Causes of Mouth breathing and snoring

Snoring is caused by vibrating tissues within the airways of the nose and throat. The vibrations that cause snoring are caused by turbulent airflow through narrowed airways. Snoring is affected by the stage of sleep, sleeping position, and the use of medications and alcohol. Snoring may be a problem for family members and sleeping partners of the snorer. Snoring also may be a sign of an underlying medical problem. Treatments for snoring are nonsurgical and surgical. Continue...

 

What is snoring?

Snoring, like all other sounds, is caused by vibrations that cause particles in the air to form sound waves. For example, when we speak, our vocal cords vibrate to form our voice. When our stomach growls (borborygmus), our stomach and intestines vibrate as air and food move through them.
While we are asleep, turbulent airflow can cause the tissues of the palate (roof of the mouth) and throat to vibrate, giving rise to snoring. Essentially, snoring is a sound resulting from turbulent airflow that causes tissues to vibrate during sleep.

How common is snoring?

Any person can snore. Frequently, people who do not regularly snore will report snoring after a viral illness, after drinking alcohol, or when taking some medications.
People who snore can have any body type. We frequently think of a large man with a thick neck as a snorer. However, a thin woman with a small neck can snore just as loudly. In general, as people get older and as they gain weight, snoring will worsen.

What causes snoring?

While we are breathing, air flows in and out in a steady stream from our nose or mouth to our lungs. There are relatively few sounds when we are sitting and breathing quietly. When we exercise, the air moves more quickly and produces some sounds as we breathe. This happens because air is moving in and out of the nose and mouth more quickly and this results in more turbulence to the airflow and some vibration of the tissues in the nose and mouth.

When we are asleep, the area at the back of the throat sometimes narrows as the muscles relax, and even close off temporarily. The same amount of air passing through this smaller opening can cause the tissues surrounding the opening to vibrate, which in turn can cause the sounds of snoring. Different people who snore have different reasons for the narrowing. The narrowing can be in the nose, mouth, or throat. Palatal snoring is often worse when an individual breathes through his or her mouth or has nasal obstruction.

The function of the nose in normal breathing

For breathing at rest, it is ideal to breathe through the nose. The nose acts as a humidifier, heater, and filter for the incoming air. When we breathe through our mouth, these modifications to the air entering our lungs occur to a lesser extent. Our lungs are still able to use the colder, drier, dirtier air; but you may have noticed that breathing really cold, dry, or dirty air can be uncomfortable. Therefore, our bodies naturally want to breathe through the nose if possible. 

The nose is made up of two parallel passages, one on each side, called the nasal cavity. They are separated by a thin wall in the middle (the septum), which is a relatively flat wall of cartilage, bone, and lining tissue (called the nasal mucosa). On the lateral side (the wall of the nose closer to the cheeks) of each passage, there are three nasal turbinates, which are long, cylindrical-shaped structures that lie roughly parallel to the floor of the nose. The turbinates contain many small blood vessels that function to regulate airflow. If the blood vessels in the turbinates increase in size, the turbinate as a whole swells, and the flow of air decreases. If the vessels narrow, the turbinates become smaller and airflow increases. 

Almost everyone has a natural nasal cycle that generally will shift the side that is doing most of the breathing about every 2 to 6 hours. For example, if the right nasal turbinates are swollen, most of the air enters the left nasal passage. After about 6 hours, the right nasal turbinates will become smaller, and the left nasal turbinates will swell, shifting the majority of breathing to the right nasal passage. You may notice this cycle when you have a cold or if you have a chronically (long standing) stuffy nose. The turbinates may also swell from allergic reactions or external stimuli, such as cold air or dirt.