Patient's Query
Hi doctor,
Please explain the benefits of breathing through the mouth and breathing through the nose. Is one better for the body than the other? Does it depend on activity that is, exercise?
Hi,
Welcome to icliniq.com.
Nose is considered as the primary organ for breathing. It warms, cleans and humidifies the inspired air and cools and removes water from the expired. It also adds quality to the speech production. During exercise, the function of the nose is bypassed. It is important for regulation of temperature for respiration. The nose protects lower airways by removing the particles such as pollens from the inspired air. The particles up to the size of 30 microns are removed by the nose. Mucus in the nose contains the number of compounds that can neutralize antigen by various mechanisms. IgA and IgE are present on the surface, and IgM and IgG act if the mucosa is breached. The nose adds quality to the voice. If too little air escapes from the nose, then rhinolalia (nasal speech) occurs. Olfaction is another very important function of the nose that is bypassed if a person is a mouth breather. The various benefits of nasal breathing due to the role of sinuses are also bypassed in mouth breathers like vocal resonance, air conditioning, pressure dampening, reduction of skull weight, mechanical rigidity and heat insulation. Apart from this, there are many side effects of breathing through the mouth like in persons with chronic mouth breathing there are more dental problems, frequent throat infections, lung infections, etc.
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Answered byDr. Priyanka Aggarwal
Medically reviewed byiCliniq medical review team
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