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Breathing is essential to our survival yet, most of us don’t spend much time thinking about how we breathe.
Oxygen has two ways of getting to our lungs. Through our noses and through our mouths.
Ideally, we’d mostly breathe through our noses.
We should only use our mouths when we can’t get enough oxygen through our nose (like when you’re exercising or have a cold). Some people, however, tend to breathe through their mouths most of the time, including while asleep.
Do you often find yourself breathing through your mouth? Then you’re in the right place.
Mouth breathing is a common issue and while it may seem like a harmless habit it’s actually quite bad for your health. Mouth breathing can manifest itself in a range of different symptoms.
Here we will discuss several common symptoms of mouth breathing and explain how Myospots could help.
Do you wake up in the morning with a dry or scratchy throat?
If yes, you may be breathing through your mouth in your sleep.
Mouth breathing bypasses the filtration system in your nose, allowing airborne particles (like dust and bacteria) to flow into your throat. These particles can irritate your throat and cause inflammation.
Mouth breathing also dries the saliva in your mouth. This dryness adds to that painful, scratchy feeling.
Do you experience acid reflux symptoms like heartburn or regurgitation? Do you have stomach pain? Do you burp a lot?
Once again, mouth breathing could be the culprit.
This is because people who breathe through their mouths tend to swallow more air. The excess air in your stomach can cause bloating, indigestion, and pain. It also puts pressure on the oesophageal sphincter (the ring of muscle that stops food from flowing out of your stomach back up to your mouth). This pressure can eventually weaken the muscle and cause it to leak, leading to acid reflux symptoms.
Additionally, as mentioned above, mouth breathing reduces the amount of saliva in your mouth. Saliva is important for helping to neutralise stomach acid. With less of it, we are more prone to the burning symptoms of acid reflux.
For some people, mouth breathing can even contribute to anxiety and other mood disorders.
This is because breathing through your mouth is less efficient for getting oxygen into your cells than breathing through your nose, so those who breathe through their mouths can tend to hyperventilate. This fast breathing may add to stress and anxiety.
Mouth breathing is also a barrier to good quality sleep. Poor sleep quality can result in a myriad of mental health consequences.
As mentioned, mouth breathing doesn’t make for a good night’s sleep.
Those who routinely breathe through their mouths while sleeping are at a greater risk of sleep breathing disorders which may contribute to fatigue, headaches, and migraines.
We’ve already talked about how mouth breathing can cause you to have a dry mouth, but did you know, dryness can contribute to your bad breath and put you at risk of tooth decay?
This is because you need saliva in your mouth to wash away bacteria. Without saliva to keep your mouth clean bacteria can accumulate. These bacteria produce sulphur. The result? Bad breath.
You also need saliva to control the acidity in your mouth. The dryness caused by mouth breathing can alter the pH balance in your mouth and contribute to tooth decay.
Your tonsils are covered in nooks and crannies that can allow a build-up of debris, bacteria, and mucus. This build-up can calcify into small hard deposits known as tonsil stones.
Mouth breathing can contribute to tonsil stones firstly by allowing airborne particles into your mouth, adding to the debris trapped on your tonsils. Mouth breathing also dries your mouth, potentially accelerating the calcification of the build-up.
One technique for addressing mouth breathing is to retrain your tongue to sit in the correct position in your mouth.
Ideally, your tongue should rest against the roof of your mouth, blocking air from easily entering your airway through your mouth. To retrain your tongue, you can perform oral exercises to encourage a healthier habit of nasal breathing.
Myospots is a simple, easy-to-use product that allows these exercises to be performed easily by anyone, including children.
Myospots are small, flavoured pads that adhere to the roof of your mouth. They dissolve after 50 minutes and aim to guide your tongue to the correct position in your mouth.
You can learn more about how Myospots work here.
They come in three tasty flavours. Get started now and buy your first Myospots order here.
If you’d like to learn more about how mouth breathing could be affecting your health, check out our blog post here.
*All information is general in nature and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Your healthcare provider can consult with you to confirm if this advice is right for you.
