Jingjing has had severe nasal congestion recently, and her mother took her to the ENT for treatment. The doctor took one look at it and asked, "Did the child look good when he was a child, but now he is ugly?" This is a mystery that has been haunting Jingjing's mother's heart, how can the doctor know? Jingjing's mother said: "She was very beautiful when she was a child, and her facial features were exquisite, but now she has changed, her lips have become thicker and upturned, and her teeth are crookedly squeezed together, why is it getting uglier and uglier as she grows?" The doctor said, "It's all the fault of mouth breathing!" ”
Does breathing through your mouth all the time really make you ugly?
There are different ways to breathe
After reading the above cases, everyone will wonder: Isn't breathing an innate ability for everyone? How do different people breathe differently? Will it also change its appearance? Let's listen to the "Lungs Squire" to explain.
The main purpose of breathing is to draw air into the lungs for gas exchange, providing essential oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide. The purpose is the same, but the path can be different. One route to the lungs is through the nose, nasal cavity, nasopharynx, epiglottis, then to the glottis, and finally into the trachea and lungs. The other route is through the mouth, oropharynx, epiglottis, then to the glottis, and finally into the trachea and lungs. Let's take a look at the differences between the two paths.
Path 1: Nasal breathing. At this time, the upper and lower lips are slightly closed, and air enters the epiglottis through the bilateral nasal cavity, nasopharynx, and then enters the trachea and lungs through the glottis. In this process, air passes through the nasal cavity and comes into full contact with the nasal mucosal surface. Most people breathe through the nose, which is an innate ability.
Path 2: Breathe through the mouth. Because nasal diseases make it difficult or difficult to walk through the nasal passages, then we will involuntarily choose to breathe through the mouth. In this case, the air does not pass through the nose but through the mouth into the trachea and lungs.
Although both breathing pathways can eventually complete breathing, if you use the mouth to breathe for a long time, the long-term airflow impact will have a certain impact on the shape of the mouth and maxillofacial area, and will subtly change the appearance.
It's not just the years that change your face, it's also possible to breathe through your mouth!
What are the dangers of mouth breathing?
Now that we have learned about the adverse consequences of mouth breathing, how do these consequences occur?
When breathing through the mouth, airflow enters and exits the body through the mouth and oropharynx. Children need to complete about 40,000 breaths a day, and after years of continuous airflow impact on the mouth and upper jaw, there will be orofacial maxillary protrusion, lower jaw retraction, thicker lips, and smaller nose, which will eventually affect the development of mandible and teeth, forming a long face, thereby changing the appearance.
In addition to the "hard injury" that is not good-looking, there are other adverse consequences of mouth breathing. At the same time, in the process of full contact with the nasal mucosa, the inhaled air is heated and humidified, and the air temperature is close to 37 °C and reaches 100% humidity when entering the alveoli, which greatly reduces the irritation of the respiratory tract by the cold and dry air outside.
If you breathe through the mouth, there is a lack of nasal hair filtration and nasal humidification and warming process, just like the lack of "air purifier" and "air humidifier", people will soon feel dry mouth and throat, which can cause chronic pharyngitis for a long time. However, the floating dust and bacteria in the unfiltered air can easily enter the lower respiratory tract, causing tracheitis and pneumonia.
In addition, breathing through the mouth can also affect the quality of sleep. People who breathe through the mouth often have sleep apnea syndrome, and intermittent hypoxia can affect sleep quality, daytime learning and work, and brain development in children.
See, breathing through the mouth will not only secretly change your appearance, but it will also steal your sleep and health!
Why do you breathe through the mouth?
There are many causes of oral breathing, which can be divided into two main categories: nasal obstruction and pharyngeal obstruction.
After nasal obstruction, airflow can only pass through the mouth. Allergic rhinitis is the most common cause, due to excessive nasal secretions, nasal congestion caused by edema of the mucous membranes in the nasal cavity, and the passage of gas is not smooth. In addition, sinusitis, deviated septum, and turbinate hypertrophy can narrow and block the nasal passages, resulting in mouth breathing.
Pharyngeal obstruction is a narrowing blockage at the intersection of the nasal cavity and the oral cavity. Blockage in this area will not only affect nasal breathing, but also oral breathing will be unsmooth. Adenoid hypertrophy and enlarged tonsils are common causes of pharyngeal obstruction. Obese people and the elderly tend to have their tongues fall back when they sleep and block the airways, resulting in open mouth breathing.
How do I know if I'm breathing through my mouth? Teach you two simple and effective methods.
Method 1: Observe or feel if there is an open mouth while lying down and relaxed, if the mouth is opened, there may be oral breathing. At this time, the upper and lower lips can be gently closed without leaving a gap, and observe whether there is any struggle or awakening due to the feeling of suffocation. If you struggle, stop testing immediately. If the lips are still in a stable and relaxed state after closing, observe for 5 minutes for any struggle.
Method 2: Place a mirror between your upper lip and nose while lying down and relaxed, with the mirror facing your nose. Do not allow the airflow from the mouth to spray onto the mirror, and observe the size of the mist sprayed by the nasal airflow on the mirror. The mirror is then placed on the lower lip in the same way to determine whether there is oral breathing or mouth-nose breathing.
Have you learned these two test methods? Go ahead and give it a try!