No one ever told me the proper way to breathe was through your nose until I asked my dentist when I was 33 years old. To my amazement, he explained why it made sense biologically and I couldn’t believe that no one had ever explained this distinction to me. My new understanding, along with some minor health problems, was the catalyst for my journey from mouth breather to nose breather. The task seemed daunting at first, but the transition was fairly quick with only a few scary moments. I only had to stay the course and keep going.
I have always been an anxious person. I remember learning to bite my fingernails when I was about 4 years old and feeling relief from anxiety when I bit through my fingernail. Another habit I developed was sucking my thumb. This habit was broken by my parents who offered a substantial dinosaur toy (Dino-Riders) upon completion of a specified period of abstinence. I am pretty certain I wore a sock taped over my hand during the night. After one relapse, I made it to the prize and never sucked my thumb again. I have broken many other bad habits, but still have trouble with a few. I believe mouth breathing was another anxiety-related bad habit that I developed, but biological or physiological components also have an influence. For example, some people may be more physically predisposed to mouth breaking because of body shape.
As a young child, the doctor repeatedly diagnosed me with “sinus infections”. I grew up in a dry climate in central Alaska where a humidifier was often used in my room during the night along with a fan for personal enjoyment. I was prescribed antibiotics way too often, and two surgeries were performed on my sinuses as a child. I think, for the most part, it was all a scam to make money at the expense of a human being. All they needed to tell me was to learn to breathe correctly: through my nose and to stop using a fan at night (dries me out at night which I learned is common knowledge in Mexico), and the sinus infections likely would have gone away. But that wouldn’t have made any money for the drug companies or doctors.
The doctor also told me I had allergies to dust mites and pollen. As an adult I developed some mysterious allergies including one to my cat. Through a long process of keeping my bed clean and working on eliminating foods, I was able to reduce my allergic reactions and finally when I learned to breathe through my nose, they almost entirely went away. No more allergies to my cat. Sorry drug companies, no more pills and doctor visits.
For most of my young adult life the problems weren’t too bad, I was strong. However, I used recreational drugs for around 10 years and didn’t notice many developing health and sleep problems because I was heavily medicated. I only started to notice the problems when I was in my late twenties and early thirties around the time I stopped using most drugs. Cigarettes began irritating me more as well. It was also around this time when I began to practice yoga and meditation. In yoga, I learned to pay attention to my breath and to breathe through my nose.
I think I had been primarily breathing through my mouth for so long, that when I practiced yoga and breathed properly, I could feel a noticeable reduction in my anxiety. When I first started taping my mouth shut at night (I will explain more how I got to this process) I noticed the same effect but it was invigorating and almost seemed to produce an adrenaline response that at first kept me awake. As I got used to this (it was scary at first), I think it was largely calming as the fear went away.
I visited the dentist when I was about 33 years old (I can’t recall if I had stopped smoking cigarettes yet). He told me he could see characteristic wear on my teeth that indicated stomach acid was coming up my esophagus during the night and coming into contact with my teeth. It is corrosive and was starting to cause some tooth loss. I did have heartburn from time to time so this helped explain why. It was the result of sort of choking as I breathed through my mouth during the night. My throat would close and stomach acid would be sucked up into my mouth. This was also likely disturbing my sleep cycles and leaving me less rested in the morning. He asked me if I breathed through my mouth during the night. I told him I think so, because I breathe through my mouth during the day, what’s the problem? He explained humans are designed to breathe through the nose which is an excellent air filter compared to the mouth. He explained more (do your own research though!), but I was sold enough to try to retrain myself to become a nose only breather.
He had me do an exercise immediately that anyone reading this article can do as well. He had me lie down in the dentist chair and told me to breathe. I naturally wanted to breathe through my mouth and I had a fear that I couldn’t get enough air through my nose. He had me close my mouth and breathe through my nose. Then he had me plug one nostril and breathe, then plug the other and breathe. I was getting enough air, although it felt scary and I remained skeptical of nose breathing. This simple exercise made me realize that it was possible not to breathe through my mouth. He also explained that by breathing through my mouth, it could cause more problems for the proper function of my nostrils. Basically, by breathing through my nostrils, it would also help them work better and ensure enough air passed through to keep me supplied with oxygen comfortably. Sidenote: I do know that one side of my nose works better than the other and is plugged less often because I think more air passes through it, but when I am relatively healthy air passes through both nostrils reasonably.
Next, my dentist explained a technique he learned when a sleep study was performed on him. Some people’s throats close during the night and cause sleep apnea and whatnot. Sometimes it is only minor and can be remedied simply by mouth taping because mouth breathing is the problem. That’s right, mouth taping! It’s exactly what it sounds like. I was shocked, but by taping your mouth during the night it can help retrain you to breathe through your nose because it makes breathing through the mouth impossible. I had to give this a try! He told me the proper medical tape to purchase (3M Micropore Surgical Tape) and I got it on the way home. He also advised that this solution was for a person without a severe sleep apnea-related problem. I also figured I could use mindfulness to pay attention to how I was breathing during the day to help retrain. I could even use tape during the day as well.
I worked on breathing through my mouth with mindfulness during the day, along with occasionally taping for an hour or two. Eventually the tape was not necessary during the day because most of the time I “checked in” I was using my nose to breathe. When I was anxious, I often caught myself breathing through my mouth. The same thing happened sometimes when I was working hard on a computer. I believe during this time I may have been doing some first chakra work. I am certain that I was also focusing on relaxing my pelvic floor by focusing on relaxing the root chakra area (between genitals and anus). I would regularly check in throughout the day on my mouth and my root chakra area to make sure they were working correctly.
Most fascinating was my experience wearing the tape at night. At first it really freaked me out. Just lying down wearing it when I was tired was wild because my nose provided better air flow which seemed to give me more oxygen leading to a heightened state of awareness right before bed. It was not relaxing and that combined with the tape on my mouth further freaked me out. I removed it the first few nights before actually being able to fall asleep. Eventually the rush I got from breathing through my nose before sleeping didn’t feel so extreme, and I was eventually able to fall asleep wearing the tape. Sometimes I found myself waking up during the night, which was normal for me to do regularly, with the tape off. I would usually put it back on.
Eventually I was sleeping better while struggling with the tape less often. My nose breathing during the night was definitely on the rise! I was breathing less through my mouth during the day and eventually I stopped using the tape because it felt normal to breathe through my nose. I believe my sleep quality increased as well. My heartburn symptoms reduced and my respiratory allergy symptoms also declined. My anxiety seemed to be less pronounced as well.
So there you have it folks! I hope sharing this experience can give some mouth breathers out there a little encouragement to try to work on becoming a nose breather. I know my life has improved as a result of the encouragement and information my dentist gave me, but I did have to try some experiments and not give up. I do sometimes regress back to some degree to mouth breathing, but I usually catch on quickly and I know how to correct it without tape. Though after writing this post, I have decided to try the tape again to really see how I am doing. Maybe I am breathing through my mouth again more than I realize!
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