Mouth VS Nose Breathe

Nose Breathing

Michael Grant White, Breathing.com

Breathing through the nose has many benefits. Breathing through the mouth, many negatives. There are some researchers who believe that mouth breathing and associated hyperventilation causes or exacerbates asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many other medical problems.

Always better whenever possible (deviated septum and small nostrils may make it impractical but still nose breathing 24 hours a day is extremely important for those who desire the longest and most healthy life.

1. The lungs are a primary source of our energy level. They extract oxygen from the air we breathe primarily on the exhale. Because the nostrils are smaller then the mouth, air exhaled through the nose creates back pressure when one exhales. It slows the air escape so the lungs have more time to extract oxygen from them. When there is proper oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange, the blood will maintain a balanced pH. If carbon dioxide is lost too quickly, as in mouth breathing, oxygen absorption is decreased.

2. Afferent stimuli from the nerves that regulate breathing are in the nasal passages. The inhaled air passing through the nasal mucosa carries the stimuli to the reflex nerves that control breathing. Mouth breathing bypasses the nasal mucosa and makes regular breathing difficult. During sleep, it predisposes one to loud snoring and irregular breathing and can lead to a serious condition called Sleep Apnea and heart conditions.

3. Also, when mouth breathing, the brain thinks carbon dioxide is being lost too quickly and sensing this, will stimulate the goblet cells to produce mucous, slow the breathing and cause constriction of blood vessels. Breathing through the nose also limits air intake and forces one to SLOW down. Proper nose breathing reduces hypertension and stress for most people. Kind of like a speed control (governor) on a car engine.

4. The nostrils and sinuses filter and warm the air going into the lungs. The mouth breather bypasses this. The sinuses produce nitric oxide (NO) which is a pollutant but harmful to bacteria in small doses. Mouth breathing also accelerates water loss increasing possible dehydration.

5. Each nostril is innervated by five cranial nerves from a different side of the brain. Each nostril functions independently and synergistically in filtering, warming, moisturizing, dehumidifying, and smelling the air.

6. Maintaining a keen sense of smell is very important for enjoying life and for safety and social acceptance. Think of all the beautiful smells we enjoy with our nose. Smell influences our behavior, our memories, and many autonomic nervous system functions which are below the level of conscious awareness. This is because the receptors in the nose, known as olfactory bulbs, are direct extensions of a part of the brain known as the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus, also known as the Brain's brain, is responsible for many functions in our bodies, particularly those that we consider automatic: heartbeat, blood pressure, thirst, appetite, and of course, the cycles of sleeping a waking. The hypothalamus is also responsible for generating chemicals that influence memory and emotion.

7. Upper Airway Resistance Syndrome, the new medical description for what most of us call snoring, is a problem for about 90 million Americans everyday. Socially unacceptable snoring occurs when other people complain about the noise. They are irritated by the snoring noise because they were unable to sleep well in the same room and in some cases the same building. Snoring is a major social problem. It can also lead to major medical problems if snoring and mouth breathing combine to cause irregular breathing during sleep.

8. What you do during waking hours carries over into sleep. Any opportunity for mouth breathing inhaling or exhaling will increase the chances of mouth breathing during sleep. Hospital studies have established that nocturnal mouth breathing is a primary cause of loud snoring. Snoring is a precursor to sleep apnea and apnea a precursor to heart attacks and dying in one's sleep.

9. Nose breathing imposes approximately 50 percent more resistance to the air stream in normal individuals than does mouth breathing, resulting in 10-20 percent more O2 uptake. (Cottle, 1972:Rohrer, 1915) There must be adequate nasal resistance to maintain adequate elasticity of the lungs. (Cottle 1980)

10. Breathing through the mouth with the nose obstructed usually imposes too little resistance and can lead to micro-areas of poor ventilation in the lungs (atelactasis). Many years of breathing against excessive resistance as with nasal obstruction, may cause micro areas of poor ventilation (emphysema). Barelli (Behavioral and Pshchological Approaches to Breathing Disorders.p.50 )

11. Body temperature may be influenced by the temperature of expired air (Scott, 1954; Weiner, 1954)

12. Work of lung movement doubled when nose breathing creating mild resistance training.

13. Chin-Up Strips are safe, inexpensive and easy to use. In fact, if you mouth breathe during waking hours you will want to: USE THEM during the exercises in the Optimal Breathing Improvement Program AS WELL AS DURING SLEEPING. They may also assist reducing the number of colds for reasons not yet certain.

They are by now in many drug stores in the US. Ask your druggist for them. We include a sample in our Sleep program.

14. Training yourself to nose breathe while waking can help the way you breathe while sleeping.

15. COLDS
Lessening of the common cold is another good reason for nose breathing. The mucous (white blood cells that kill germs) membrane lining the nose extends all the way from the inner linings of the nostrils down the trachea to the bronchi the directly enters the lungs. Germs get caught and die in the mucous.

16. SINUS blockage and difficulty nose breathing. What would make spinal fluid leak out of your nose? Dr. Hanson: In patients who’ve had a head injury, their dura, which is the leathery material that surrounds the brain and encloses it, can tear and they can have cerebral spinal fluid leaking through the dura into the nose. They can also have the same problem after sinus surgery. In both cases, there’s a potential for bacteria to get into the lining of the brain, which is obviously a bad thing.

"People with chronic sinus conditions should use a sinus rinse daily as it promotes drainage of the sinuses and speeds healing of inflamed tissues... "Self-Healing" Dr. Andrew Weil M.D.

17. SLEEPING ON YOUR BACK
Sleeping on one's back is helpful as it helps maintain a consistent body position and allows gravity to assist the mucous to drain into the throat and not getting built up in the sinuses and nose. Our Sleep Program has several exercises to train one to go to sleep on one's back and stay there throughout the night. Some may find that sleeping on the back makes them snore more.