How often do you breathe through your mouth instead of your nose? Chronic mouth breathers
can experience a variety of side effects, including sleep disorders, health issues, and yes, even
facial changes. Fortunately, there are many ways to treat mouth breathing to help you sleep
well and look your best.
What Is Mouth Breathing? Why Is It a Problem?
Mouth breathing occurs when you inhale through your mouth instead of your nose. This
negatively impacts the quality of air you get when you inhale. Since air isn’t passing through the
nose, you don’t get the filtration benefits that the nose provides via the cilia — tiny hairs in
your nose that filter out allergens, pollution, and other debris.
People who often breathe through their mouths are also more susceptible to health concerns
like impaired lung function, digestion troubles, and sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep
apnea.
Additionally, mouth breathing can affect the shape of your face. Mouth breathing impacts the
development of your facial structure, especially if you start mouth breathing as a child. It can
cause your face to become long and narrow without proper room for your tongue or your
teeth.
How Does Mouth Breathing Affect Your Face?
When you breathe through your nose, your tongue places pressure on the palate, and this
pressure encourages forward jawbone growth. When you breathe through your mouth, your
tongue does not place pressure on the palate, and this lack of pressure allows the facial muscles
to force down the top jaw, causing it to elongate. The bottom jaw may also grow in smaller
than normal. Teeth may become crowded, and the chin may recede.
These facial changes not only affect how the face looks, but also constricts air passageways,
which can negatively impact sleep. Sleep loss increases your risk of depression, obesity, and
hypertension. Mouth breathing can also cause sleep apnea, obstructive sleep apnea, and other
sleep disorders.
Additionally, mouth breathers are more likely to have poor posture than nose breathers,
leading to headaches, muscle tension, and irregular balance. You may also experience dry
mouth, bad breath, and drool on your pillow.
Is Mouth Breathing Treatable?
The negative effects of mouth breathing are extensive. Fortunately, there are steps you can
take to address the issue. It’s important to figure out why you’re breathing through your mouth
in the first place. Common causes include enlarged tonsils, enlarged adenoids, a deviated
septum, and a chronic stuffy nose. Talking to a doctor is a great way to learn more about mouth
breathing, discover why you’re breathing through your mouth, and determine solutions.
If the issue is enlarged adenoids or a deviated septum, you may need surgery to correct the
problem. If the issue is sleep apnea, you may need to make lifestyle changes, such as losing
weight, treating allergies, and sleeping on your side.
Although you may not see drastic physical changes when you correct your mouth breathing
habit, especially if you’ve been doing so since you were a kid, you can still benefit from
improved posture, which can improve your overall appearance, including your face. With
improved breathing, you may also sleep better and experience improved health overall.
Treating your mouth breathing issue can also help you achieve fewer dark circles under the
eyes, clearer eyes, and a generally more energized appearance.
Treat Mouth Breathing with Prana Healt
Want to learn more about mouth breathing and how you can fix it? Prana Health can help. We
treat a variety of breathing issues as well as obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep problems,
allergies, and more. We’ll get to the root cause of your mouth breathing and create a treatment
plan personalized to your specific needs. Contact us to learn more about our services in
Fayetteville and Sanford, NC.
