I want to spend some time today looking at some of the reasons to quit breathing through your mouth.
Put that way it might sound to you as if I will talk about smoking. And yes, breathing through the mouth is a lot like smoking – it is a bad habit that has significant consequences for our health.
In my massage practice I see a lot of people who breathe through their mouths. In yoga we pay a lot of attention to our breath and there are very few yoga practices that call for mouth breathing.
So let’s look at some of the reasons to quit breathing through your mouth.
The nose cleanses, heats and humidifies the air before it enters the body.
The hairs lining your nose serve as a first line of defence, filtering particles and pathogens from the air. This filtering process keeps certain microbes or allergens from entering the body. In turn, this may decrease the chance of developing conditions such as colds, allergic reactions, or flu. Because the nose retains some moisture from the air, nose breathing may prevent nasal dryness. Warmer air is also a good condition for respiratory health.
Mouth breathing presents a greater risk for dental complications
Mouth breathing is especially bad when you are young. Children who mouth breathe may experience changes in the development of their jaws. They are more likely to have jaws that are not positioned evenly and to have an overbite. In adults too, mouth breathing can cause poor positioning of the jaw. This may lead to jaw pain, grinding of the teeth, and an irregular bite that may need correcting.
If you breathe through your mouth at night, you could be at greater risk for gum disease. Without saliva to wash away the harmful bacteria in your mouth, these bacteria are left to flourish on your teeth and gums. Unfortunately, this does not only cause tooth decay, but it can lead to gingivitis as well.
And if that is not enough, mouth breathing dries out the mouth and teeth, and a dry mouth is associated with a greater risk of bad breath. >>1
Oral breathing may decrease lung function and the amount of oxygen in the blood.
Studies show mouth breathing may also decrease lung function and worsen symptoms and exacerbations in people with asthma.
Breathing through the mouth decreases the activity of respiratory muscles. It reduces the expansion of the diaphragm muscle, leading to lower efficiency during mouth breathing and low oxygen concentration in the blood. This is associated with high blood pressure and heart failure.
Nasal breathing keeps air in your lungs longer than mouth breathing, and provides up to 20% more oxygen in your bloodstream at any given time.
The way you breathe may affect your ability to think
A study in 2010 observed that oral breathing can increase the likelihood of brain functional problems due to lower oxygen saturation in the human brain. Furthermore, significant decreases in memory and learning ability during oral breathing, and changes in the central nervous system, have been reported in animal research.
A 2021 study found enhancements in brain activity when participants were nose breathing. The researchers found that compared to breathing through the mouth, nose breathing strengthened the connections between different brain regions.
And if these four reasons are not enough
Mouth breathing can also increase your blood pressure, lower your immunity and negatively affect your sleep. It can also lead to snoring and sleep apnea.
Breathing is a process that permeates all aspects of our lives and the way we breathe affects us profoundly.
The good news is that we can always decide and change a bad habit.
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