Is Mouth Breathing Unhealthy?

Are you a mouth breather? Do you have a family member that is?

Mouth breathing is a big topic for me because my son and I were both mouth breathers. I knew right away that I was a mouth breather because I would often wake up with a dry mouth and smelly breath. I would catch myself drooling and no matter how much I slept, I never felt well rested in the morning.

Mouth breathing causes you to inhale more air than the body needs, unbalancing the blood biochemistry. This kind of sleep-disordered breathing can contribute to mental and physical illnesses. A classic sign of mouth breathing at night is snoring. We all know people who snore and could benefit from learning about how it can affect their health. My oldest son has a deviated septum and snores. I learned that snoring is related to poor quality of sleep and impacts cognitive development. For me this felt like something I was meant to learn about and try out for my family.

Nasal breathing is the way we are meant to breathe. Our nose acts as a filter and warms the air we breathe in before it gets into the lungs. This keeps our airways protected from viruses, bacteria, and irritants. What a great and simple way to help increase our immune systems, especially right now. Nasal breathing can also improve sleep quality, lower stress and even increase your exercise performance.

Is Mouth Breathing Effecting your Sleep?

How can you become a nasal breather at night?

I learned more about nasal breathing through the Darin Olien podcast, where he interviewed Patrick McKeown author of the book, Oxygen Advantage and creator of a special mouth tape called Myotape. Myotape is an orange stretchy, almost bandaid like material that goes all the way around your mouth. The tape brings your lips together, creating a light tension that helps keep your lips closed, to ensure nasal breathing.

Mouth Breathing Tape

Feeling really inspired, I immediately ordered the Myotape. I knew it would take some time before I received it because the company is based out of Ireland. Luckily shipping is free. I do want to mention, I have ordered the myotape off Amazon before, and the tape was very sticky and would leave a sticky residue around my mouth at times. I’m not sure if that has to do with the way the tape was stored. All I know is I never had that happen before or after when ordering directly from myotape.com.

While I was waiting for the tape to arrive, I was eager to start my nasal breathing journey. I decided to tape my mouth shut at night with painter’s tape. Why not? I was ready to take this on. It took a few nights for my body to adjust and to wake up with the tape still on my mouth, due to that drooling habit I mentioned earlier. I noticed right away a big change in the way I felt in the morning. I finally felt like I had a good night’s sleep, I didn’t even know what that felt like.

The main reason I would recommend starting with the Myotape instead of the painter’s tape: the Myotape allows you to open your mouth, talk, you can still have some water or a drink if you get thirsty in the middle of the night. As a mom, I am often waking up at night if the baby is crying or my four-year-old wakes me up to tell me he has to go to the bathroom. With the painter’s tape, I would have to completely take it off my mouth and then when I was ready to go back to bed, I would have to remember to tear a new piece off and put it back on. Let me tell you, I found it so much easier with the Myotape vs the painter’s tape.

Mouth Breathing during Exercise

After I got my nasal breathing down at nighttime, I wanted to try and see if I could start training myself to nasal breathe while I was working out. I had learned from the podcast that it typically takes our bodies six to eight weeks to adjust to nasal breathing while working out and for the air hunger you feel to go away. Patrick McKeown also mentioned that your nose will be runny for the first couple of weeks. Make sure you have a towel in hand when you’re incorporating nasal breathing into your workouts. My nose was definitely flowing the first couple weeks. I have been nasal breathing only in my workouts for the last seven months. I can work out harder and longer now. I don’t feel winded in the middle or end of my workouts, the way I use to.

Nasal breathing is a quick and easy way you can improve your health today. It has made a really positive impact on my life and my son’s life. More on his journey with Myotape to come in future posts. Thanks for reading. Sending you lots of love and healing.