"By keeping the mouth closed, snoring is largely eliminated. Most snorers snore with an open
mouth and only a very few individuals are able to snore loudly with a closed mouth. You can
demonstrate this yourself by attempting to simulate snoring with mouth open and closed.
Snoring has both important medical as well as social consequences if left unmanaged.
Many snorers have what's known as socially unacceptable snoring disturbing their bed
partners every night and if not corrected can lead to one of the bed partners leaving the
bedroom, an action that can have dire consequences on one's marriage.
Medical problems include disrupted sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness to actually
increasing one's risk for heart attack or stroke. There is new published evidence
highlighting the possibility that snoring is not just a correlate of obstructive sleep
apnea, but may actually cause sleep apnea. There are good reasons to attempt to curb
snoring early on.
For those who have sleep apnea, prescribed CPAP therapy is the gold standard for sleep
apnea management. CPAP users in the U.S. number
in the hundreds of thousands. I estimate
50% tend to vent air or mouth breathe instead of nose breathe while sleeping with CPAP. The
Chin-Up Strip, especially the Tan Chin-Up Strip appears to offer a reliable means of helping the CPAP patient
maintain a closed mouth while sleeping with CPAP.
I could go on, but I think the message is clear, Chin-Up Strips appear to be an effective,
noninvasive and inexpensive means for helping one maintain a closed mouth while sleeping
and eliminate snoring and attendant risk factors. Chin-Up Strips also assist CPAP users to maintain a
closed mouth while sleeping so the prescribed positive air pressure does not escape through
their open mouth instead of helping them maintain an open upper airway while they sleep.
At our sleep center we recommend Chin-Up Strips for snorers without sleep apnea and for those who mouth
breathe while sleeping with CPAP. We advise CPAP users to wear the Chin-Up Strip while sleeping with
CPAP. Many sleep centers across the country are also using the Chin-Up Strips as we are doing.
Because snoring and sleep apnea and management of sleep apnea with CPAP is huge in terms of
numbers of individuals affected, I believe the demand for Chin-Up Strips will also be huge as it
becomes more widely known just how effective this simple product is.
I should add I am a supporter of the Chin-Up Strip product because I know what it can do first
hand. My opinions are my own and I do not have a financial interest in The Chin-Up Company
so my opinions are not biased by conflict of interest."
William Finley, Ph.D - Mission St. Joseph Sleep Center.
OPINION # 2
Allen D. Davey, Director,
British Snoring and Sleep Apnea Association
International Snoring and Sleep Apnea Association
"I believe Chin-Up Strip was the best invention introduced in the UK in 2001. Our
clients have so much success with it. I like it too! It's great for CPAP users who
suffer from palatal insufficiency and where the air short circuits up the nose and out the
mouth."
MEDICAL OPINION # 3
05-99 Sleep Medicine for CHEST physician -
Course Handout - Presentation by Aaron Sher, MD
"Many individuals who snore mouth breathe during sleep. Furthermore, the nasal
mucosa, which is by-passed in mouth breathing, may have receptors which respond to airflow
and serve as afferent stimuli for the neural regulatory mechanisms of respiration."
PHARMACIST OPINION # 4
R. L. Rudolph RPh - Pharmacy - Medford, Oregon 5-21-03
"I am a registered pharmacist and have been using your product for the past 4 months in
conjunction with my CPAP machine.
I want to let you know that I have been very impressed
with the results. I was having problems with my mouth falling open during sleep and that
did not allow the CPAP to function properly (air leaking out my mouth and defeating the
purpose of the CPAP).
Your product solved my problem beautifully, after trying several chin
straps over a period of several months."
And finally, look at what osteopath Robert C. Fulford, D.O. has to say in his book Dr. Fulford's Touch of Life about breathing:
"Remember: Always try to breathe through your nostrils and not through your mouth, because air must contact the olfactory nerves to stimulate your brain and put it into its natural rhythm. If you don't breathe through your nose, in a sense you're only half alive."
http://www.westonaprice.org/healthissues/facial-development.html
MOUTH-BREATHING
Let's evaluate the differences in mouth breathers and nose breathers. The consequences of mouth breathing can occur from the moment of birth because all infants are obligate nose breathers. That is the mechanism by which breast feeding and breathing can occur simultaneously. If a baby has obstructed airways, he may turn away from the breast due to lack of air and prefer a bottle, which allows him to consume his food more quickly.
A mouth breather will not be humidifying the air, or slowing it down to allow the proper mixing of NO with it. The lungs will have difficulty providing maximum oxygenation for the body with this dry, unhumidified, unfiltered and, most importantly, NO-lacking air. This constant and chronic condition affects the cardiovascular system and the heart because the smooth muscles that line all of the arteries react to this poorly oxygenated air with a kind of tightness, a kind of permanent tension, which can be very stressful and depleting to the body.
Furthermore it has been clinically shown that blocking NO production in healthy individuals results in moderate hypertension and reduced heart output as well as shortened bleeding times by activation of platelet blood-clotting factors.
Due to the lack of proper oxygenation, the ability to deliver fully oxygenated blood to the cells is also much reduced. Thus mouth breathing has a negative effect on every cell in the body as it deprives them of oxygen. Overall wellness and health requires proper oxygen as every particle of our being requires oxygen. Cancer cells, by the way, are anaerobic by design.
Other manifestations of mouth breathing include snoring and cessation of breathing (also known as sleep apnea), some types of headaches, hypertension without other known clinical causes, bed wetting, chronic ear or sinus infections, TMJ pain, sleep disorders and dark patches under the eyes.
Nostril vs. Mouth-Breathing
One of the first lessons in Yogi Science of Breath is to learn how to breathe through the nostrils and overcome common practice of mouth-breathing.
The breathing mechanism of Man is so constructed that he may breathe either through the mouth or nasal tubes, but it is a matter of vital importance to him which method he follows, as one brings health and strength and the other disease and weakness.
It should not be necessary to state to the student that the proper method of breathing is to take the breath through the nostrils. However, ignorance among civilized people regarding this simple matter is astounding. We find people in all walks of life habitually breathing through their mouths and allowing their children to follow their example. Many diseases which civilized man experiences are caused by this common habit of mouth breathing. Children permitted to breathe this way grow up with impaired vitality.
The mothers of ancient history instinctively recognized that the nostrils are the proper channels for the conveyance of air to the lungs. They trained their infants to close their little lips and breathe through the nose. They would tip the infant’s head forward when it is asleep. This closes the lips and makes nostril-breathing easier. Many contagious diseases are contracted by the habit of mouth-breathing. Carefully conducted scientific experiments have shown that soldiers and sailors who sleep with their mouths open are much more liable to contract contagious diseases than those who breathe properly through the nostrils.
An instance is related in which smallpox became epidemic on a man-of-war in foreign parts, and every death which resulted was that of some sailor or marine who was a mouth-breather, not a single nostril-breather succumbing.The organs of respiration have their only protective apparatus, filter, or dust-catcher, in the nostrils. When the breath is taken through the mouth, there is nothing from mouth to lungs to strain the air, or to catch the dust and other foreign matter in the air. From mouth to lungs the dirt or impure substance has a clear track and the entire respiratory system is unprotected. Moreover, such incorrect breathing admits cold air to the organs, thereby injuring them.
Inflammation of the respiratory organs often results from the inhalation of cold air through the mouth. The man who breathes through the mouth at night, always awakens with a parched feeling in the mouth and dryness in the throat. He is violating one of nature's laws and is sowing the seeds of disease. Once more, remember the mouth affords no protection to the respiratory organs, and cold air, dust and impurities and germs readily enter by that door. On other hand, nostrils and nasal passages show evidence of careful design of nature.
The nostrils are two narrow, tortuous channels, containing numerous bristly hairs which serve the purpose of a filter or sieve to strain the air of its impurities, etc., which are expelled when the breath is exhaled.
Not only do the nostrils serve this important purpose, but they also perform an important function in warming the air inhaled. The long narrow winding nostrils are filled with warm mucous, which when coming in contact with the inhaled air, warms it so it can do no damage to the delicate organs of the throat or lungs.
The refining, filtering and straining apparatus of the nostrils renders the air fit to reach the delicate organs of the throat and the lungs. The air is not fit to so reach these organs until it has passed through nature's refining process. The impurities which are stopped and retained by the sieves and mucous membrane of the nostrils, are thrown out again by the expelled breath, in exhalation, and in case they have accumulated too rapidly or have managed to escape through the sieves and have penetrated forbidden regions, nature protects us by producing a sneeze which violently ejects the intruder.
The air, when it enters the lungs is as different from the outside air, as is distilled water different from the water of the cistern. The intricate purifying organization of the nostrils, arresting and holding the impure particles in the air, is as important as is the action of the mouth in stopping cherry stones and fish bones and preventing them from being carried on to the stomach. Man should no more breathe through his mouth than he would attempt to take food through his nose.Another feature of mouth breathing is that the nasal passages, being thus comparatively unused, consequently fail to keep themselves clean and clear, and become clogged up and unclean, and are apt to contract local diseases. Like abandoned roads that soon become filled with weeds and rubbish, unused nostrils become filled with impurities and foul matter.
One who habitually breathes through the nostrils is not likely to be troubled with clogged or stuffy nostrils, but for the benefit of those who have been more or less addicted to the unnatural mouth breathing, and who wish to acquire the natural and rational method, it may perhaps be well to add a few words regarding the way to keep their nostrils clean and free from impurities.A favorite Oriental method is to snuff a little water up the nostrils allowing it to run down the passage into the throat, from thence it may be ejected through the mouth. Some Hindu yogis immerse the face in a bowl of water, and by a sort of suction draw in quite a quantity of water, but this latter method requires considerable practice, and the first mentioned method is equally efficacious, and much more easily performed.
Another good plan is to open the window and breathe freely, closing one nostril with the finger or thumb, sniffing up the air through the open nostril. Then repeat the process on the other nostril. Repeat several times, changing nostrils. This method will usually clear the nostrils of obstructions. In case the trouble is caused by catarrh it is well to apply a little Vaseline or camphor ice or similar preparation. Or sniff up a little witch-hazel extract once in a while, and you will notice a marked improvement. A little care and attention will result in the nostrils becoming clean and remaining so. We have given considerable space to this subject of nostril breathing, not only because of its great importance in its reference to health, but because nostril breathing is a prerequisite to the practice of breathing exercises to be given later in this book, and because nostril breathing is one of the basic principles underlying the Yogi Science of Breath.
The Science of Breath | Chapter 6: Nostril vs. Mouth-Breathing
http://www.shout.net/~jmh/clinic/science_of_breath/ch06.htm
Maintained by jeff.helgesen@gmail.com.
