By Dr. Emilie, Downtown Chiropractor
Our bodies are designed to breathe through the nose. It’s a healthier, deeper way to breathe during the day, during sports and at night.
Breathing through the nose filters small particles like pollen, adds moisture and warms or cools air before it gets to the lungs, improves oxygen absorption, reduces hypertension, improves the immune system, and other critical, life-giving benefits.
Unfortunately, millions of people have become “mouth breathers” due to congestion, stress, sleep apnea or a handful of other reasons.
I am 100% a mouth breather….it may have started with braces or when I started getting jaw pain, or because I’m sensitive to smells – I really don’t know. However, I do know it’s not good for you!
One day several years ago Martin decided to BUY TAPE FOR OUR MOUTHS TO SLEEP! I was like, “what????, no thanks” So, I let him do it for a while on his own. He looked weird with this little white tape on his mouth surrounded by beard hair!
Now, if you don’t know my husband he is always way ahead of the trends, and he loves learning and studying. When he was 14, he was reading finance and leadership books when other kids were playing, he had a Mac laptop before people knew about it, he was doing cold showers before it was made cool by Wim Hof, he was intermittent fasting 8 years ago…and unbeknownst to me, he was figuring out answers to my nose breathing. (This list could be very long, but I’m trying to be brief)
Every time he wants to do something new, I resist him. Every time. And every time, a few years later, I catch up and tell him he was right (and yes, I have told him this!)
All that to say I’ve been using this special tape on my mouth to sleep each night for a while now and it has made a world of a difference! I can sleep 6 hours and feel refreshed when I wake up. I could go to bed at 1h30am (last night…oops), get up at 6 and feel refreshed. It is amazing!
~Enough change that I was inspired to share this all with you ~
Mouth breathing is a major reason why 40% of men and 20% of women are habitual snorers, leading to poor sleep quality and causing them to wake up every morning feeling groggy and fatigued. Even if you don’t snore, it will help.
The tape I use is called Simply Breathe and it helps to gently keep the lips closed at night. It retrains your body to breathe through the nose, the way nature intended.
Another option is to use medical tape – it’s cheaper, but I found it too sticky when I took it off in the morning. Still, it’s better than nothing!
Have a nice sleep!
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..
You can check out their website at: https://www.simplybreathe.com/.