What To Do If My Child Only Breathes Through His Mouth?
Breathing through the mouth is not a normal habit for a child. In almost all cases, this is due to obstructions in the airways, which must be treated expeditiously. Hence, many parents wonder ‘what to do if my child only breathes through his mouth?’
Breathing is a fundamental process for life. Failure to do it correctly has a negative impact and produces alterations such as sleep apnea, cough and deviation in the teeth, to name just a few of the problems that can occur.
The following information aims to give you an approach to this issue, so that you learn to identify the causes that generate this bad habit and what are some of the most recommended therapies by pediatric pulmonologists.
My son only breathes through his mouth
The respiratory system fulfills various functions that help to maintain a balance in the body, since its efficient work directly affects that we can live and be healthy.
The case of children who breathe through the mouth is particular. We start from the fact that eventually breathing in air from the mouth is necessary; this does not affect the organism if we do it alternating it with nasal breathing.
However, it is clear that taking this route as the only one to breathe in and expire can hide specific pathologies and trigger new ones in its wake.
The process of the respiratory system linked to moving air within the lungs is called ventilation. This is done through cycles, in which you breathe in to take in air and expire to discard it. The basis is in an automatic act carried out by the neurons, which in turn send the orders to the nerves to activate this mechanism.
All human beings are born conditioned to carry out the ventilation process mainly in a nasal way as an assistance.
Hence, it can be immediately deduced that, if a child cannot carry out a process that the body performs unconsciously, there must be an obstruction in one or more parts of the respiratory system.
Causes of mouth breathing
The reasons why a child breathes through their mouth can be different. It is possible to start from temporary events, such as nasal congestion due to colds or allergic rhinitis, until reaching obstruction problems such as hypertrophy of the tonsils.
These are some of the most common triggers for this problem:
- Deviated nasal septum or obstructions in the area.
- Hypotonia problems of the muscles of the face.
- Bite problems that lead the child to keep his mouth open.
- Hypertrophy of the adenoids.
- Hypertrophy of the tonsils.
- Temporary causes: colds or allergies.
Consequences
Having already reviewed the causes that can create obstructions in the ventilation through the nose, let’s now take a look at the most obvious consequences of mouth breathing:
- Episodes of coughing and snoring during the night.
- Sleep apneas
- Malformations in the jaw or narrow palate.
- Atypical swallowing.
- Hearing problems
- Sinusitis.
- Otitis.
- Presence of dark circles.
- Weakness.
- Dry lips.
Medical solutions
As can be seen in the previous sections, mouth breathing in children responds to various dissimilar factors; some of them, luckily, are passengers. Once you identify that your little one is breathing through his mouth, you should go to the pediatrician so that he can determine the causes and refer the child to the corresponding specialist; It can be a pulmonologist, ENT specialist, or orthodontist.
Another care that the child can receive to eliminate this bad habit is to attend a speech therapist, who is a specialist in speech and hearing problems. With it, the little one can perform two types of therapy; the first is called passive and active exercise breathing therapy, while the second is orofacial myofunctional therapy.
In the first treatment, the little one will do exercises that allow him to reprogram his brain so that it eliminates the wrong breathing pattern; It starts with physical exercises and mental conditioning.
The second methodology, meanwhile, consists of correcting the problems of hypotonia of the muscles and swallowing related to occlusal problems.
As a final clarification, it is worth noting the fact that mouth breathing affects the health of children in so many ways that even many little ones who suffer from them show they have school problems and the inability to perform physical exercises.
