Nasal breathing vs. Mouth Breathing, why you should breath through your nose.

Mouth breathing is survival it’s not the way the body is designed. Nasal breathing is the way nature intended us to breathe. Without nasal breathing, we do not take in the nitric oxide that is produced in the nasal cavity. Without the NO2 or nitric oxide mixed with the air, we don’t absorb and distribute the oxygen into our body. Mouth breathing deprives us of having humidified, filtered air. There is also no resistance this inhalation with mouth breathing. This is important because the brain has sensors for CO2 to oxygen levels in proper ratio’s. Mouth breathing changes that ratio which causes an inflammatory reaction in the airways which results in an overproduction of mucus in the upper respiratory system. This aligns with the fact that breath-holding can improve nasal congestion. This also may be one of the reasons swimming is helpful for asthmatics. Closing the lips while sleeping can be a helpful practice to help improve nasal breathing. Try placing a small piece of Johnson & Johnson cloth tape across the midline of the mouth from under the nose to the bottom lip at bedtime. This will send a subtle cue to the brain to begin breathing more through the nose. Breath right strips can often be very helpful to improve airflow through the nose. Many times people have a poorly developed maxilla and this ultimately will prevent sufficient airflow through the nose. FCR or (Functional Cranial Release) is a series of endonasal balloon inflations that expands the maxilla. Chiropractic for the face, if you will. If an individual cannot get to a certified FCR practitioner or the FCR isn’t enough to widen the skull then the addition of orthodontic appliance in conjunction with FCR may be necessary. There are a number of orthodontic/appliance options that could help to expand the jaws in 3 dimensions. I’m not sure how young you can go with these options, but these include ALF (advanced light wire functionals), Bio block, Homeoblock, and DNA Appliance. Surgical options should be avoided at all cost but include orthognathic surgery, or even distraction osteogenesis, but these are much more aggressive. For more information about the treatment, contact your local dentist. I’ll be contacting Dentist Batavia who is on-hand to help.