The Nose Knows Breathing
Breathing through your nose is preferred to breathing through your mouth, especially while sleeping. Your nose produces a compound - nitric oxide - that helps your lungs absorb oxygen. Breathing through your nose also helps prevent infections. Even though there is more resistance breathing through your nose because the opening is smaller, your lungs absorb more oxygen.
Nighttime Nose
Breathing through your mouth while sleeping can cause gum disease. And, it makes it more likely that your airway will collapse. Even opening your mouth at night without breathing through it makes the airway more likely to collapse.
Mouth Breathing
When you breathe through your mouth all the time, the tongue is in the wrong position. The resting spot for your tongue is the roof of your mouth, and that is where it goes when you breathe through your nose. Mouth breathing can also cause problems with posture, because you tend to push your head forward to make it easier to breathe. This causes neck pain and even headaches.
Dangers for Young Mouth Breathers
It is crucial that children don’t breathe through their mouths while sleeping. It can cause permanent damage to the breathing structure of the head. It also can interrupt their sleep, and sleepy children aren’t sluggish---sleepy children are hyperactive. If your children breathe mainly through their mouths, get them checked out.
Bent Out of Shape
Difficulty breathing through your nose can be the result of swelling of the internal membranes in the nose or from bent dividing cartilage in the nose. When the dividing cartilage in the nose is bent or not centered, it is called a deviated septum. It can cause restrictions in both nostrils. A nasal steroid spray like Flonase can help open up your nose. Using breathing strips fastened to the outside of the nose at night may also help. In the worst case, surgery might be required.
Clear Your Nose
Exercise is a good way to clear up your nose. Five minutes of aerobic exercise opens up nasal passages for 30 minutes---the more intense the workout, the more the nasal passages open. The nasal opening effects of exercise can be long-lasting, as regular exercise releases signals to open nasal passages.
Open Your Nose
To open up your nose for deep, slow breathing, try these steps.
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Take a small breath in and let it out.
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Hold your nose and hold your breath as long as you can until you really feel the need (but not too much).
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Breathe in through your nose.
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Return to regular breathing for a minute.
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Repeat 5 times.
This should help open up your nose and sinuses for breathing. Holding your breath a bit increases the CO2 level in your blood and helps your muscles and organs absorb oxygen from the blood.
Breathe Right
Breathing is essential for life. Train yourself for the best kind of breathing. Use your nose and your belly. This will help you at night and during the day.
