How to Stop

Mouth Breathing
(Treatment)
Manual
(Instructional Guide)
Dr. Artour Rakhimov 2011-2012
www.NormalBreathing.com
How to Stop Mouth Breathing
(Treatment)
All chronic pain, suffering and diseases are caused
from a lack of o!gen at the cell level."
#rof. A.$. %u!ton, &D, 'he 'et(ook of &edical
#h!siolog!)
* Worlds most widely used medical textbook of
any kind
* World's best-selling physiology book
1. Effects of mouth breathing
Breathing through the mouth is a sign of
chronic hyperventilation. Healthy people (over
40 or 60 seconds for the body oxygen test do
not breathe through the mouth at all. !f they
try" their body oxygenation will be below 40 s.
#n the other hand" if you observe sic$ people"
you will notice that breathing through the
mouth is their fre%uent characteristic.
&he very first step" in order to solve this
problem" is education so that you completely
reali'e importance of nasal breathing (4)*.
+outh breathing causes more than ,- different
negative immediate physiological effects in the
human body. However" for the sa$e of
simplicity" ! am going to list only two
biochemical factors that directly affect blood
flow and oxygen supply to all vital organs.
.irst of all" mouth breathing causes spasm of
smooth muscles in airways which is also
$nown as bronchoconstriction or
bronchospasm. /econd" mouth breathing
upsets normal utili'ation of nasal nitric oxide
(with N# for its chemical formula. 0et me
focus %uic$ly on these 1 factors since they are
of paramount significance for normal health.
&hird" mouth breathing leads to reduced
oxygen delivery to body cells.
1.1. Bronchospasm
Bronchospasm ta$es place due to low 2#(
since during mouth breathing we remove much
more 2#( from the lungs and airways. 3o'ens
of clinical studies showed that 2#( is a potent
relaxant of smooth muscles in the human body
(including muscles around blood vessels"
airways" and both colons. /ome studies claim
that 2#( is the most potent $nown vasodilator.
&herefore" 2#( is possibly the most potent
bronchodilator.
&hat means when you breathe more air at rest
and have lower 2#( levels in the airways"
your bronchi and bronchioles become
spasmodic (or constricted. 4hen you breathe
easy and very slowly" your airways are dilated.
2onstriction of inflamed airways" as for people
with asthma" bronchitis" cystic fibrosis" and so
forth" has disastrous effects since airways are
also inflamed and full of thic$ mucus. &hat
ma$es air transfer either reduced or" in some
areas of the lungs" even completely bloc$ed.
+ovements of air through inflamed and
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constricted airways greatly increases wor$ of
breathing5 your breathing muscles need to
wor$ much harder. 4orst of all" friction of air
causes additional mechanical damage to the
already inflamed airways. &hus" mouth
breathing for people with inflamed airways is
li$e scratching a fresh inflamed or unhealed
area on the surface of the body.
1.2. Nasal nitric oxide
&he second effect of mouth breathing relates to
nasal nitric oxide that is necessary in the lungs
to disinfect them or to $ill all types of germs
that can cause respiratory infections. Nitric
oxide is also a potent vasodilator and its
synthesis explains why nitroglycerine has been
used for almost a century to stop heart attac$s.
6es" this $nown and safe drug nitroglycerine
converts into nitric oxide" dilates" blood
vessels" and prevents heart attac$s. 4e
naturally produce nitric oxide in different body
parts" including sinuses" from arginine" a semi7
essential amino acid that is present mainly in
meat" fish and nuts.
1.3. ess !"2 in the lungs and "2 in
cells
&he third effect is the most destructive for
oxygen delivery to cells of the body. 0ow 2#(
in the alveoli can cause one of the following (
effects.
!f you have normal lungs" as in most people"
your overbreathing will cause low 2#( in the
arterial blood. &hat causes constriction of
arteries or vasoconstriction (less blood and
oxygen is transported to all vital organs and
the reduced Bohr effect (less oxygen is
released by red blood cells in capillaries. Both
effects drastically worsen oxygen availability
in cells.
&hose people who have problems with their
lungs" due to asthma" 2#83 or cystic fibrosis"
will ma$e their ventilation7perfusion mismatch
worse since mouth breathing favors spread of
pathogens in the respiratory system (due to
lac$ of nitric oxide and also reduces alveolar
2#( causing bronchospasm discussed above.
&herefore" these people get too low levels of
oxygen in the blood or hypoxemia and too
much 2#( in the arterial blood (due to too low
2#( in the lungs.
. !our health" up to you to
decide
&he second ma9or step is your irrevocable
decision to breathe through the nose all the
time when you are awa$e. 6ou need to
remember and remind yourself about constant
nose breathing throughout the day. !f you have
tendency to forget about strictly nasal
breathing during the day (due to age" stress and
other factors" there are additional resources
below.
#. $tuffy nose problems
:ny time when your nose gets bloc$ed" you
should apply the ;mergency 8rocedure or a
simple breathing exercise that will unbloc$
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your stuffy nose in about 40760 seconds (for
over <0= of people. &his breathing exercise
can be found on 6ou&ube5 How to >et ?id of
a /tuffy Nose or /tuffy Nose ?emedy. #r you
can also study a web page that is devoted to
problems with stuffy nose5 How to >et ?id of
a /tuffy Nose .ast.
6ou can repeat this easy breathing exercise ,0"
(0" or ,00 times per day. @eep in mind that
your nose gets bloc$ed when you breathe at
least ( times more air than the medical norm.
%. &outh breathing during sleep
!f you find that your mouth is dry in the
morning" consider the following experience of
3r. Butey$o patients. !n order to ensure nasal
breathing during the night" in the ,<60s
?ussian patients invented mouth taping.
.irst of all" it is necessary to find out if one has
this problem by chec$ing dryness in the mouth
9ust after wa$ing up in the morning. !f the
mouth is dry and there is a desire to drin$
water after wa$ing up" the person had mouth
breathing. !t could begin when the person went
to sleep or it could appear at 1 or 4 am. !n any
case" 9ust (0710 min of mouth7breathing resets
the breathing center to lower 2#( (breathing is
mainly controlled by 2#(" and such patients"
as a ruler" have less than (0 seconds for the
body oxygen test when they wa$e up in the
morning.
+oreover" if you have a malignant tumor and
your daily 28 is above (0 s" your tumor will
grow only during the time of the night" when
you breathe through your mouth. !f you have
sinusitis" the pathogenic bacteria in your
sinuses will multiply and coloni'e new
mucosal surfaces when you breathe through
your mouth. #rganic damage to the heart
muscle" growth of inflamed areas in the >!
tract" advance of pathogens on your s$in (in
cases of ec'ema" psoriasis" etc." and many
other problems will appear if your mouth gets
open during your sleep due to hyperventilation.
4hat are the solutionsA #ne option is to tape
your mouth.
'. (ow to tape one's mouth at
night to pre)ent mouth
breathing
.or mouth taping one needs a surgical tape and
cream to prevent the tape stic$ing. Both can be
bought in the pharmacy. +icropore (or 1+
and vaselin are popular choices. .irst" put a
small amount of cream on the lips so that it is
easy to remove the tape in the morning. &hen
ta$e a small piece of tape and stic$ it in the
middle" vertically" across the closed mouth.
/ome students prefer to put it along or
hori'ontally" but a small piece in the middle is
sufficient. !f you are afraid to BsealC your
mouth completely" tape only one half of the
mouth leaving space for emergency breathing.
!n (006 one of my Butey$o colleagues" 3r.
Dames #liver" a >8 from the E@ and former
president of the Butey$o Breathing
:ssociation made a presentation to the British
&horacic /ociety about the safety of mouth
taping based on thousands of cases both in
?ussia and in the west. 8reviously he
conducted a survey among us" Butey$o
teachers and obtained the statistical data.
&aping at night normally should be a
temporary measure. 4hen oneFs 28 is above
(0 s in the morning" mouth taping is not
necessary.
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#.1 !an mouth taping create
distress$
+a9ority of students have no problems with
mouth taping and they breathe only through
the nose during the whole night. &heir mouth
is not dry in the morning and they report
numerous benefits of mouth taping.
However" some students may find it difficult
and uncomfortable so that they remove the
tape during the night. &hese incidents have
physiological causes" including5
,. Sleeping on the back. !f you turn on your
bac$ during night sleep" your breathing gets
almost twice heavier and it will be very
difficult to pump more air through the nose.
Hence" learn the module devoted to prevention
of sleeping on oneGs bac$.
(. Too warm sleep conditions. !f your blan$et
is too warm" your get increased respiratory rate
during sleep. 6ou will wa$e up finding out that
breathing through the nose is uncomfortable.
&o prevent overheating" use less warm clothes
and blan$ets during sleep.
1. Carpets in your bedroom. 8resence of
carpets ma$es air %uality tens or even hundreds
times worse. 3uring night sleep several cubic
meters of air with millions of all these airborne
particles" including dust" dust mites" their
droppings" bacteria" viruses" etc. will enter
through the nasal passages ma$ing them dryer
and penetrating into bronchi and the lungs
causing stress for the immune system and deep
breathing. /leeping in carpet7free rooms or
covering carpets with plastic will solve this
problem.
4. Very dusty pillow cases, blankets, and
bed sheets create the same effect" as well as
boo$s" newspapers" hanging clothes" and old
dusty curtains. +a$e sure that your bedroom
has good air %uality.
-. Closed windows during the night greatly
worsen air %uality in the bedroom due to poor
air circulation and absence of air ions that
ma$e air cleaner. ;ither $eep windows open
or" if it is too cold or too noisy outside" buy an
air ioni'er)purifier and $eep it running through
the night.
6. /$in rashes due to extreme skin sensitivity
to fiber or chemicals. &ry to find a hypo7
allergic tape or surgical paper tape. !f rashes
still a problem" you can sew together two clean
soc$s ma$ing a circle. 4ear it at night around
your head so that to $eep your 9aw closed.
*. +lternati)e to mouth breathing
&here are rare cases (probably less than -= of
people who have mouth breathing problems
but cannot use tapes due to s$in
hypersensitivity or strong psychological
factors. !f this is the case" it is possible to use
chin straps to $eep the chin up during sleep.
: simple home remedy is to ta$e ( long soc$s
and sew them together so that they form a loop
that nicely fits around the head and $eeps the
mouth closed.
,. -eminders about nasal
breathing during the day
/ome older people may use mouth taping
during the day" if they have memory problems
or can forget about the role of nasal breathing
due to other factors.
!f you have family members or friendly co7
wor$ers and you want to prevent mouth7
breathing during the day" tell them that your
doctor (:rtour ?a$himov" 8h3 prescribed you
nasal breathing (4)*. :s$ them to pay attention
to the way you breathe and remind you about
your commitment to solve this problem.
Ese stic$ers on your 82 screen" doors" des$s"
etc. reminding you" HBreathe only through the
noseH. @eep a large mirror on your wor$ing
des$ so that you can see your face and the way
you breathe through.
!f you have children" promise them a small
treat if they catch you breathing through the
mouth.
Nasal breathing during physical exercise
will be very important. :lways slow down or
ta$e rest if you exercise so intensively that you
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get a strong urge to open your mouth. 6our
struggle will not be long. 6ou should increase
your morning body oxygenation up to (0 s or
more. !t is better to do wal$ing" nit running if
you have less than (0 seconds. Hence" ta$e
care about other lifestyle +odules so that to
move up to the safe 'one and get busy with
more advanced challenges in your life with
easier breathing and more oxygen in the brain
and body cells.
.. /uture health is in higher body oxygen due to slower breathing
!f you want to achieve really good health" the crucial thing is to boost body oxygenation up to -0 or
more seconds. &his &able explains the details. .or specifics of the body oxygen test" visit this page5
body oxygen test.
Lifestyle factor: Body oxygen < 30 s Body oxygen > 50 s
Energy level Medium, low, or very low High
Desire to exercise Not strong, but possible Craving and joy of exercise
Intensive exercise with nose
breathing
Hard or impossible Easy and effortless
y!ical "ind states
Confusion, anxiety,
depression
Focus, concentration, clarity
#raving for coffee$ s%gar and
&%n' foods
resent !bsent
(ddictions to s"o'ing$ alcohol$
and dr%gs
ossible !bsent
Desire to eat raw foods "ea# and rare $ery common and natural
#orrect !ost%re %are and re&uires efforts Natural and automatic
)lee!
'ften of poor &uality( ) *
hours
Excellent &uality( + , hours
naturally
6our complete program with free breathing exercises and lifestyle +odules can be found on web
pages of NormalBreathing.com in /ection 0earning.
/uccess in your 9ourney for better health" 3r. :rtour ?a$himov (NormalBreathing.com
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