Breathe Through Your Nose
A few years ago, my wife started taping my kids' mouths shut. This was not some kind of punishment. Rather, she did it before they went to sleep because, she said, it would help them breathe and sleep better. I thought it was ridiculous, but not nearly worth the argument so I didn’t really say anything about it.
Last night, before I went to sleep, I taped my mouth shut. This was not some kind of punishment from my wife. Rather, I did it willingly and of my own accord because now I understand the benefits of mouth taping.
It Just Doesn’t Seem Normal
I didn’t think it was normal when my wife was taping my kids’ mouths shut. I actually felt really bad for them, especially when I said goodnight to them and all they could muster was an unintelligible mumble from behind the tape.
My wife taped her mouth shut, too. I’ll give her credit. She never really tried to get me to tape my mouth shut. She knew I wouldn’t have done it anyway.
But, now, I do. As a matter of fact, if I don’t do it, I feel like there is something missing. The tape has become something of a security blanket. It gives me comfort because I know it’s going to give me a better night’s sleep.
What’s So Good About It?
Being rather unscientific and speaking anecdotally, my personal benefits have shown themselves in the following ways:
- I now snore very little, if at all. This was a big one since my wife is a myofunctional therapist, and was very concerned about my snoring. It wasn’t marriage-altering snoring, but it was enough to make her concerned about my overall health considering that snoring can be a sign of sleep apnea and the many negative effects associated with it.
- I do not have a dry mouth when I wake up. Many times, I woke up in the morning with my mouth open and dry. Now, that’s all gone and all the more comfortable upon waking.
- I dream more. I always dreamed, but I do it more now and, according to my wife, that’s a good and healthy thing.
- I’m more aware of my breathing throughout the day. If I catch myself breathing through my mouth, I close it and, with a sense of pride, resume breathing through my nose.
- I exercise differently. When I ran with my dog, I used to try to run for three miles, time it, and do a better time with each successive run. Naturally, I stressed out trying to beat my previous time. This was especially challenging considering my dog wanted to stop and sniff every single blade of grass along the run. Now, I just concentrate on keeping my mouth closed and breathing through my nose instead of concentrating on beating time. I can’t run the whole way because I have not yet trained my body to breathe only through my nose on a long run, so it’s more of a run/walk. On the bright side, this has led to less stressful exercise and a more olfactorily fulfilled dog.
What’s the Science?
There are now numerous resources that will tell you the science of why nasal breathing benefits your health. One of the more popular is James Nestor’s book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. Another, and one of my favorite explanations because of its brevity and simplicity, can be found on Dr. Mark Buheen’s website, Ask the Dentist.
Dr. Buheen lists 4 benefits: increased nitric oxide levels, reduced risk of teeth grinding, reduced risk of dry mouth, and efficient way to diagnose more serious issues. You might notice that some of these align with my previously mentioned anecdotal evidence, so although I am no expert, there is some scientific truth in what I shared.
Ok, I’m Willing to Give It a Shot
If you are willing to give it a shot, great. Your first step is getting the tape. All you need is some surgical tape which you can easily remove in the morning. And if you think you might wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air, as I did, you probably won’t. As I said, the tape has actually become comforting to me, kind of like a security blanket.
But you should at least try it. If you don’t, you’ll never know what health benefits you may be missing out on.