This was one of my most popular facebook lives BY FAR. So let’s recap. (Or view on facebook)
No Child Should EVER Mouth-Breathe
A mother wrote a blog post about her child titled “NO CHILD SHOULD EVER MOUTH BREATH”
Correct.
However she went on to correct her child’s airway issues with surgery to remove tonsils and adenoids. Whilst this may have been necessary and I’m not suggesting you don’t get it done IF it is required, how does this address the issue of mouth breathing? It is addressing the symptoms, NOT the cause.
Mouth breathing is a massive issue with MANY long-term side effects.
In infants it is often linked to tongue ties. It doesn’t have to be though. It can be linked to low muscle tone, bad tongue posture and a variety of issues.
Why is Tongue Posture Important?
When we open our mouths to breath, the tongue automatically rests in the floor of the mouth. Our ENTIRE airway development depends on the tongue being in the roof of the mouth in order to create the pressure on the palate to create expansion. This expansion not only creates the room you need for all your teeth, but also the appropriate airway expansion (sinus development).
So…
Issue #1 = dental issues and under-developed airways. In fact the whole face structure and function is not developed fully in a mouth-breather. The jaw will grow longer as the teeth try to meet when the mouth is open, so you get a distorted, elongated jaw and less cheek-bone development (no judgement, this is my face-shape as mine wasn’t corrected!)
Issue #2 = inflammed and enlarged tonsils from breathing unfiltered air through the mouth instead of filtering through the nose. Raw air contains many pathogens that will inflame the tonsils as they try to mount an immune response. Removing the tonsils does NOT resolve the issue, just redirects the inflammation further into the body. The tonsils are inflamed as an immune response to this unfiltered air. Correct the mouth-breathing and the tonsils will generally go back to normal size without any further issue.
Issue #3 = mouth breathing doesn’t result in the correct oxygen ratios in your blood. Mouth-breathing children tend to feel foggy and unable to concentrate. In order to combat this foggy-head feeling they often agitate themselves and create hyperactive behaviour trying to stimulate themselves and wake themselves up! 70% ADHD cases were found (in one recent study) to be corrected just by correcting the mouth breathing issue!!
Issue #4 = sleep apnoeas are also commonly linked to mouth breathing and undiagnosed tongue ties.
Issue #5 = Even your posture changes – the head comes forward to allow you to get more air when you breathe through your mouth so you end up with neck pain and bad posture. (not even joking – this is my life!)
So what causes mouth breathing?
As I previously mentioned, it is often linked to tongue ties and whilst this isn’t always the case – PLEASE I BEG YOU, go get it checked out by someone actually TRAINED in this specific area. I have lost count of how many people tell me their midwife said baby is feeding fine or their paediatrician said it’s all just hype and the specialists are looking for a paycheck. NOOOO! Ties are still not widely accepted as being an issue but I can tell you they ARE a very common issue that is very often undiagnosed or brushed aside. If you need a contact for someone to speak to for a diagnosis, please get in touch. I have a contact who has a list of all the reputable specialists in Australia.
In 90% of cases if you can see a tie under the lip, there will be some kind of tongue tie. If you can’t see an obvious membrane under the tongue, it can be a posterior tie…seriously, just get it checked.
Even if it isn’t a tie, you need to see the specialists to get exercises to correct the mouth-breathing for all the longer term issues that will come up if not corrected. So at the risk of sounding repetitive, go, get an expert opinion from someone who isn’t about to remove body parts from you child as a first step.
And then..?
Once ties are corrected there are plenty of exercises you can teach the kids to train the correct posture. My children are also now doing palate expansion very successfully – this includes correcting the expansion that hasn’t happened, as well as training the tongue to stay up and the lips to seal for proper nose breathing. So we are correcting the issue with exercises as well as treating the under-development, and with great success so far.
Small changes with the myobrace and palate expansion dentists at a young age will make a huge difference in my experience.
And finally, kinesiology. Yep really. There can (and likely will) be energetic restrictions that also restrict the palate and jaw from expanding and developing correctly. We have used kinesiology again with amazing results. If you’d like to know more about this or book in a free 15min chat please get in touch, this is my area and I love to see how it can be used to help families heal and release.
My message is simple but passionate – let’s stop treating symptoms and start addressing a very simple cause that is very under-rated and under-diagnosed! Surgery is absolutely fine if truly needed or as a last restort, but I honestly don’t feel its fair to these kids as a first step and all that stress for the parents as well!
I have experienced ALL of this with my own kids, who weren’t diagnosed until I diagnosed them and then who needed multiple corrections as the “experts” didn’t know what I thought they knew. So no, I’m not an expert, however I have LIVED this path with my kids and I want to make it a shorter, straighter path for as many parents and children as I possibly can. Get in touch if you need a referral, I’d love to help.
Happy expanding!
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