Have you ever wondered about the importance of breathing through your nose vs breathing through your mouth? While searching the Internet for an answer to why the cold air seems to freeze up my chest and make breathing very difficult, I stumbled across The Science of Breath. The section on Nostril vs Mouth-breathing had this to say about cold air:
And, moreover, such incorrect breathing admits cold air to the organs, thereby injuring them. Inflammation of the respiratory organs often results from the inhalation of cold air through the mouth.
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Not only do the nostrils serve this important purpose, but they also perform an important function in warming the air inhaled. The long narrow winding nostrils are filled with warm mucous membrane, which coming in contact with the inhaled air warms it so that it can do no damage to the delicate organs of the throat, or to the lungs.
The author says that many diseases can be attributed to the habit of mouth-breathing and says that smallpox, which killed many men-of-war in foreign countries, did not kill a single "nostril-breather"; it only affected those who breathed through their mouths (though I can't help but wonder how he obtained nostril vs mouth-breather data).
I have observed that I breathe through my mouth most the time. Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen I had asthma that was bad enough to make climbing a flight of six stairs difficult. I suppose the habit of mouth-breathing could have formed when I had asthma: Since my lungs needed to get as much air as possible, I subconsciously developed the habit of always breathing through my mouth. (The asthma disappeared when I stopped eating dairy and started exercising.)
What other implications could mouth-breathing have? Of all the organs in our body, the brain uses the most oxygen. What organ is closest to the brain? The nose! Could breathing through our nose somehow provide our brain with a little extra oxygen, thereby increasing its function? When I breathe through my nose, my head automatically feels better; my brain feels clearer and refreshed with every breath. I don't feel any of that when I breathe through my mouth.
I'm going to start doing daily breathing exercises and make a conscious effort to breathe through my nose. The Summary of Techniques and Exercises section of the aforementioned site has some incredible breathing exercises (try a few!).
That explains why djt have problems. life of djt………. is all from growing up and breathing thru me mouth. yep… me a mouth breather when lil. Not no more tho.
I’ve been consciously breathing through my nose more frequently and I’ve noticed that I smell a lot more things. It’s weird. Places where I have never smelled anything are suddenly smelly. It’s as if my senses have suddenly become more tuned!
The proximity of the nose to the brain doesn’t matter it has to go threw your lungs. With your miss guided logic the mouth would be better because it is closer to the lungs, where all air has to go to first before it is absorbed into the blood stream….and the nose isn’t an organ
scratch that last part it is indeed an organ
I’m no doctor (and judging by your assumption that the nose isn’t an organ, I’m guessing you aren’t either), but I was merely posting interesting thoughts, not stating facts.
I had sleep apnea; not anymore since I made an effort to breath through my nose. Try this test: Inhale lots of air through your mouth, close your mouth tightly and try exhale through your nose. If at first you could not, your nose air path is clogged; you have sleep apnea!!! Practice exhaling through your nose, and when you can do it easily, you are cured!!! May God guide you towards a happy and healthy remainder of your life.
Thanks for the great tip, Erick!
I notice I breath with the nose my stomach expands and contracts. Mouth breathers breath with their chest which isn’t healthy at all since it’s shallow breathing. I suggest to do nose breathing exercises outdoor. Fresh oxygen will increase the benefits.
One trick is to keep your lips firmly pressed together and put your tongue against roof of your mouth this will force you to breath with your nose.
I agree, Mike. Thanks for the advice! 🙂
Ever since my nose went blocked 3 months ago I started breathing through my mouth. And I don’t like it! Its not..I mean I can’t catch my breath properly….:( Im still 11
Hi Caycee,
You should go see a doctor. I’m sure they can help.
One more simple check: Let one or both the nostrils be held (in a gentle pinch by the thumb and index fingers of both the hands) on their sides outwards,downwards and away from each other. Now an improvement in the nasal breathing is probably an indication of weak nasal structure. It could be collapsed cartilages, deviated septum, muscle tone problems, nasal polyp growth in the inner recesses of the nose etc.
An initial housekeeping at persistent conscious nose breathing with effort, and regularly and frequently, will go towards improving many of the weakness in the nasal structure and help get back to normalcy. Improved diet and nasal irrigation will also aid. Moreover, conscious nasal breathing will SLOW down the entire body and mind system by alligning the thought production to the present activity, thereby helping reduce stress etc. Note the connection between nasal congestion and thought congestion.
This is not a doctor, but been through such a body mechanism and experienced the above.
Great advice! Thanks Murali! I too have noticed that nasal congestion leads thought congestion!
I don’t know hy but suddenly I couldn’t breath through my nose
Bs….really all nose creatures were ok..well that’s interesting..how did they make sure that all nose breathers were in fact breathing through there nose..you are the cancer that plagues the Internet full of false information and untruth.
I’m not sure I understand your point, Curt. Perhaps you’d like to provide some useful feedback?
have you started breathing through your nose all the time now? what about at night? im gonna try the massive switchover, any tips?
Hi Steven,
I’ve found it extremely challenging to create the habit of breathing through my nose more often, but I do try to do it whenever I remember. I don’t have any tips other than to take 1 minute breaks every hour or so to do some conscious breathing. It helps in so many ways! 🙂
hi, i just started to breathe through my nose again today after having an extensive amount of endless headaches and clouded run down thought process. i remembered that breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth is the proper technique of breathing 4-5 seconds in through your nose and 4-5 seconds out. I did this just today because my head had been hurting for quite some time now and instantly i felt reliefe. Also i am a former smoker who recently went cold turkey last sept my headaches started ever since i quit the nasty habbit. nose breathing is way more benifitial then mouth breathing. just stating my opinoin and exspeireance.. thanks.
Thanks for sharing, Joe! I’m glad you commented because it reminded me of this post. I need to start practicing nose-breathing again!
Awesome article! I have started yoga and their beliefs are alllll about nostril breathing! If you can control the breath you can control the mind! Pretty much, anyway ;)!!
Thanks, Jon! Yes, breath is life!
I duno whether I should comment but for as long as I can remember ive always breathed thru my nose never my mouth is that unusual? It’s not all that tho I guess as I get a lot of comments saying I breathe noisily from different people but I can’t change my habit even when exercising or running etc I still only breathe thru my nose! Weird eh x
If you breathe through your nose, that’s a good thing! It’s breathing through your mouth too much that’s not good.
I totally agree with what you say and did not realize how much I was breathing through my mouth until this winter and the effects on me with the extremes in cold weather. Now all I am doing is breathing through my nose which was a little hard at first due my habit of breathing through my mouth.
Thank you for this wonderful information.
You’re most welcome, Barbara! I’m so happy you found this helpful. 🙂
This is interesting, I was just thinking about how breathing can enhance the functions of our brain. So I decided to google it and this pops up. Just from my understanding in Biology and how cells interacts in our body. It makes sense for the nose to be in the midst of the brain, if not damn near next to it. The sinus sits right underneath it. When the air travels through the sinus, the oxygen is first access by the brain, and the eyes, etc. It also makes sense that people who engage in physical activities would require oxygen depending on the intensity. Thereby the results of being physically active has great impact on the brain, and the heart….etc. So it seems as if breathing a lot of oxygen can boost the brain. Hence why many people find Yoga as a part of their routine. I think we might just found the little SECRET here of the Brain.
Thanks for sharing those thoughts, David! This comment made me realize that it’s not just about breathing through your nose more than your mouth, something that since writing this post 6 years ago I’ve managed to retrain myself to do. It’s also about how deeply we breath, how vigorously we breathe, and how often we engage in physical activity that gets our blood pumping and our body sweating. All of that is so vital for brain health, heart health, and overall health!