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The Ultimate Guide To Breathing

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The Ultimate Guide to Breathing

It’s essential to life, but many people don’t give it much thought.  It’s usually viewed as a good thing if a person is breathing, and it’s a bad, sad day if not.  Breathing is much more than just air in and air out. There is a heavy science behind the mechanics, and this guide will help explain the intricacies.

Why is it important to nasal breathe?

Nature intended for you to use your nose! You wouldn’t enjoy a milkshake through your nose, so you shouldn’t enjoy oxygen in through your mouth.

Inhaling and exhaling through the mouth is for emergency use only. It is a very shallow form of breathing and gets little help from the diaphragm muscle.  This shallow breathing means that air is only exchanged in the upper lobes of the lungs.

This results in a chronic fight or flight response. 

Inhaling and exhaling through the nose will help balance the sympathetic response, with the rest and digest response of the parasympathetic nervous system. 

The deeper, slower rate of respiration from nasal breathing will prevent hyperventilation, help distribute more oxygen throughout the body, improve workouts, energy, and mood, and calm the sympathetic nervous system response.

Mouth breathing has other negative effects, such as:

  • Alterations to craniofacial development
  • Tooth crowding
  • Sleep disorders
  • Dental concerns such as decay and gum disease
  • Allergies
  • Gummy smiles
  • Lowered immune function

Read Dysfunctional Breathing: How to Use Your Breath for Health Optimization

What are the benefits of nasal breathing?

People who use the nose  tend to be healthier, happier, less depressed and anxious people overall. 

The benefits of nasal breathing include:

  • Better oxygen uptake into the lungs, thanks to nitric oxide.  This substance, found in the sinuses, helps remove harmful bacteria and viruses, improve the immune system, regulate blood pressure, and improve oxygen uptake. Read 3 Things You Should Know About Nitric Oxide.
  • Balance blood pH
  • Easier breathing
  • Reduction in stress
  • Lowers hypertension
  • Filters and moisturizes air
  • Decreases dehydration caused by mouth breathing
  • Increased energy
  • Better sleep
  • Increased stamina and endurance
  • Better facial development
  • More attractive facial appearance

Mouth breathing has physiological consequences

Breathing supplies oxygen to the cells of the body and removes excess carbon dioxide.  The body requires both oxygen and carbon dioxide at 6.0 – 6.5%. The body can get enough oxygen from the atmosphere, but can’t get all the carbon dioxide needed, from the atmosphere, so the body needs to create and store it.  Carbon dioxide is a created byproduct of several body processes. It is necessary for important functions such as helping release oxygen from hemoglobin, maintaining blood pH balance, and breathing.  In people who mouth breathe, all of these functions are altered. 

Breathing is an automatic biological process that is regulated, not by oxygen levels, but by carbon dioxide levels. The exchange of oxygen in the body requires CO2.  When a person is mouth breathing, the respiration rate is increased (hyperventilation), which lowers the CO2 level. Lowered CO2 levels lead to an elevation in blood pH and the oxygen sticks to the hemoglobin. This phenomenon, the Bohr Effect, was first described in 1904 by physiologist Christian Bohr. This effect causes decreased oxygen levels in the body. With less oxygen being delivered to the brain and body, a person cannot function at an optimum level of performance.

Nasal breathing creates more attractive faces

Mouth breathing has developmental consequences to the face.  When someone is mouth breathing, the tongue is low and the mouth is open.  This means that the oral rest posture is incorrect. A person simply can’t have the tongue resting on the palate, and the lips sealed when mouth breathing is occurring.  This incorrect oral rest posture alters the craniofacial development and causes changes to the growth of the upper and lower jaw (maxilla and mandible), palate, and airway.

With the mouth gaping open, a long, narrow facial structure results as the facial growth is pulled down instead of growing forward as it should. 

Also, lack of nasal breathing doesn’t put an expansive force on the growth of the face, resulting in insufficient growth of the bone. This is where malocclusion or crowding comes into play. The teeth can’t erupt correctly if there isn’t adequate space.

Early breathing intervention for children is important

Mouth breathing and open mouth resting posture affect the growth of the face, leading to crooked teeth, insufficient jaw growth, receding chin and insufficient growth of the airway and nasal passages.  If the face does’t develop properly, the airway can’t develop properly and this leads to airway centered disorders.

By understanding the importance and benefits of nasal breathing, parents can have a critical eye for airway concerns and seek early intervention to correct misguided craniofacial growth and get children back on track for normal skeletal development.

Nasal breathing decreases stress

Chronic stress is the result of sympathetic overuse.  When you continually overuse the sympathetic nervous system, this teaches your brain to function from a sympathetic state rather than a parasympathetic state.  By learning to breathe properly, you can control how to respond to stress or relaxation. If you can create a nasal breathing habit, you will benefit from having a healthy heart rate and improved blood pressure.  This will decrease your stress load. If you can slow down the length of the inhale and exhale slightly longer than the inhale, you can naturally encourage the relaxation response in the body.

Myths

Nasal and mouth breathing is created equal

When someone assumes that the two types of breathing are equal, this person does not understand the basic, physiological process of oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange.  Taking a deeper dive into this important process will reveal that nasal and mouth breathing are not created equal.

Taking a big breath of air gives me more oxygen

This is not true because the oxygen is actually absorbed on the exhale, not the inhale.  Many breathing techniques encourage a longer exhale than the inhale, which allows the lungs more time for oxygen transfer to the blood.

Mouth breathing when working out is best

Mouth breathing when doing physical exertion is actually worse. Taking in more air doesn’t mean that more oxygen is available. What matters during working out is endurance, stamina, and strength, right?  Mouth breathing in big gulps of air lowers the CO2 in the lungs and as a result, lowers the oxygen that is released from the hemoglobin. 

Want to enhance your workout? John Douillard, the author of Body Mind Sport, says it best:

To experience the zone in training is our birthright, and it is within the design of our human nervous system to access it. To push ourselves to exhaustion when we have the capacity to allow effortless, perfect performance to flow naturally, from the inside out, seems somehow primitive and a waste of time. I have never heard of a peak experience that was described as painful, grueling or exhausting. Rather, the descriptions always fit the original definition of exercise: rejuvenating, stress-relieving and accessing full human potential.

Can digestive issues improve?

Gastrointestinal disorders are at an all-time high and this can be contributed to mouth breathing. 

First, is a mechanica reason.  Mouth breathers chew poorly and quickly with their mouths open and often have rapid eating behaviors.  This leads to aerophagia (swallowing air), gas, bloating, burping, acid reflux, stomach aches and choking just to name a few consequences.

Second, is a physiological reason.  As detailed earlier, when someone is a mouth breather, they are in constant fight or flight mode.  When you are running from the boogie man, your body is making sure your legs are strong and have endurance.  Your body is not thinking about the proper digestion of your breakfast. Without the proper balance of the parasympathetic nervous system response digestion can not be optimized.

Can nasal breathing improve my oral health?

Yes! Mouth breathing dries out the oral and pharyngeal tissues.  This tissue dryness leads to inflamed tonsils, swollen tongue, bad breath, gum disease, and cavities. 

Does myofunctional therapy help?

Yes.  In addition to teaching correct oral rest posture, which improves breathing, myofunctional therapy also teaches nasal breathing.

Can I just tape my mouth shut?

Using a physical barrier to force the body to nasal breathe will not correct the habit, and can cause trauma in young children who aren’t ready to have the mouth taped shut.  This trauma can have a reverse effect, resulting in a child being afraid to keep the lips sealed.

Some practitioners recommend mouth taping as a way to break the vicious congestion cycle associated with mouth breathing, without considering the importance of first correcting the oral rest posture. Read The Vicious Cycle of Mouth Breathing

In addition, attempting to mouth tape before a comprehensive myofunctional assessment is not recommended. You might have a physical reason (deviated septum, swollen nasal turbinates, nasal polyps or other condition) that prevents adequate nasal breathing, and will require a visit to an ENT, allergist or both.  As part of a comprehensive myofunctional assessment, patent nasal passages will be evaluated as well as any other factors that can contribute to chronic nasal congestion, such as food sensitivities, pet allergies, and inflammation.

Read 3 Steps to Stop Mouth Breathing

How to start nasal breathing in 5 minutes

  1. The first thing you will do is relax and get comfy. 
  2. Just do your normal breathing and when you’re ready you will fully exhale your breath and plug your nose. (You are essentially holding your breath until you feel your body start to really want that oxygen!) 
  3. When you can’t stand it anymore, and your lungs really need air, then let go of your pinched nose and only inhale through your nose!  This is the important part! You can only breathe through your nose. It may sound nasty or you may get some surprises, but you have to stay the course and only breathe through your nose, for 15-20 breaths.
  4. Let your breathing return to normal.
  5. Repeat 5 times.

Read How to Unblock a Stuffy Nose in 5 Minutes