If you’re like most people you don’t really give any thought to how you breathe. This is because you do it every day without notice. Unfortunately, if you breathe through your mouth, especially while at rest or sleeping you could be doing great harm to your health from mouth breathing.
Problems with mouth breathing don’t usually show up right away but happen over time. These problems can affect your posture, your sleep and your appearance. While those who mouth breathe don’t make much of a deal about it until someone brings it up. Then they often explain it as part of them – an issue with their nose, or that they are winded, etc. They see it as a foregone conclusion and never come to realize how much their problem interferes with how much oxygen they absorb into their cells and brain, how well they sleep, and how they feel throughout the day.
The good thing is, once you understand what mouth breathing really does to your body, you can start to reverse it—even if you are over 50. In this article, we’ll take a look at how mouth breathing impacts your health, how it starts, and what you can do to regain your edge and health from more natural breathing.
What Is Mouth Breathing and Why It Happens
Mouth breathing is really just the bad habit of breathing in and out through your mouth instead of your nose. While this is usually normal during strenuous exercise or when you have a stuffed nose from a cold or allergies, it becomes a problem when it’ becomes your default pattern of breathing. When this becomes the norm it is even worse for you when sleeping or at rest. This is when your problems start.
Your nose does more than just move air in and out. It:
- Filters the dust and germs from the air
- Adds moisture and warmth before air gets to your lungs
- Regulates airflow to support better oxygen uptake by slowing airflow
Why Mouth Breathing Starts
Several regular issues can lead to chronic mouth breathing:
- Nasal congestion from allergies, colds, or sinus problems or structural issues with the nasal airways
- Poor tongue positioning, which can block nasal airflow
- Regular stress or anxiety, leading to faster, open-mouth breathing
- Sleep position, especially lying on your back with your mouth open
- Childhood habits that were never fixed
Once it becomes a regular, automatic thing, mouth breathing usually goes unnoticed. But small signs can give it away:
- Having dry mouth in the morning
- Waking up thirsty at night
- Drooling during sleep
- Frequent yawning or sighing during the day
If these sound familiar, your breathing may need to be corrected.
How Mouth Breathing Affects Oxygen and Energy
Bypassing the nose and breathing from the mouth changes how your body uses oxygen. A lot of people think that taking in more air, which is the case with mouth breathing, means that you also bring in more oxygen to your body. It’s not that simple.
When you breathe through your mouth:
- You tend to breathe faster and your breath is more shallow
- This causes slightly less carbon dioxide (CO₂) to remain in the blood
- CO₂ is necessary for the release of oxygen from the blood into your muscles and brain
What Happens When CO₂ Levels Drop Too Low
With less CO₂:
- Your body holds onto oxygen in the blood instead of delivering it to your cells (the Bohr effect)
- As a result your muscles and brain get less fuel, even though you’re breathing more [1]
This causes:
- Low energy
- Brain fog
- Decreased endurance
- Tiredness after simple tasks
Mouth breathing is like pressing the gas pedal harder while also pressing the breaks. It’s inefficient and slowly drains your energy. Even a small gradual change to breathing through your nose can improve the delivery of oxygen to the cells, increase energy, and decrease stress on your heart and lungs.
The Surprising Impact on Posture and Facial Structure
Mouth breathing not only takes a toll on your lungs, your energy level and your health it also impacts your appearance. Over time it changes your posture, muscle alignment, and even your facial structure.
Effects of Mouth Breathing on Posture
When you breathe through your mouth:
- Your head leans forward to open the airway
- This causes your neck and shoulders to be pulled into a rounded, tense position
- Over time, this leads to:
- Chronic neck and upper back tension and pain
- A head posture that leans forward
- Misalignment of the spine
Not only does this posture cause discomfort it also makes breathing more difficult, contributing to a feedback loop that reinforces poor breathing mechanics.
Facial Structure and Jaw Alignment
Mouth breathing can slowly but subtly change the shape of your face. More so while you are a child but even into adulthood.
- The jaw tends to drop and move backward
- The middle of the-face (cheek and nasal areas) can become narrower or sunken
- This causes:
-
- A less defined jawline
- A longer face shape
- A more tired or aged appearance
The Hidden Link to Appearance
Many people don’t realize that things like:
- A receding chin
- Crowded teeth
- Dark under-eye circles
– can be because of years of mouth breathing and the changes in muscle patterns it creates.
There is good news. You can retrain your posture and muscle tone – even after 50—with regular nasal breathing, tongue positioning, body awareness, and small corrective movement.
Why Mouth Breathing Harms Your Sleep
The biggest problem with mouth breathing, especially as you get older, is its impact on your sleep and heart health.
How Mouth Breathing Affects Sleep
When you breathe through your mouth while sleeping:
- Your tongue drops back, partially blocking your airway
- This leads to snoring, dry mouth, and even apneas (short breathing pauses)
- Your body wakes up briefly and frequently – even if you don’t remember it
These very short periods of being awake take you out of deep sleep and REM sleep stages, leaving your brain and body groggy and unrested.
Symptoms of Poor Sleep from Mouth Breathing
You might notice:
- Waking up feeling tired after even 7–8 hours in bed
- A dry mouth or sore throat in the morning
- Having to take bathroom trips at night
- Feeling foggy, anxious, or irritable during the day
Over time, this poor sleep amounts to:
- Increased stress hormones
- Slower recovery
- Impaired immune function
Especially Risky After 50
As we age the muscle tone in the airways begin to weaken. This makes mouth breathing much more common during sleep and as a consequence, much more harmful. It also increases the risk of sleep apnea, which affects more than half of men over 50.
This is why training your body to breathe through your nose at night is one of the most important steps you can take to improve deep sleep, increase natural mental and physical recovery during sleep, and reduce the chances of age-related health risks.
Can You Reverse the Damage After 50? Yes.
If you’ve been breathing through your mouth for years, like I had, you might wonder if it’s too late to fix your breathing. The good news? It’s not. Your body can adapt—even after 50.
Why Change Is Still Possible
Let’s face it, you still have a lot of good years in you. Why not make the best of them. Because breathing habits are something you learn you can also unlearn the bad habits and adopt new healthy ones. Similar to any type of self correction, such as improving your posture or your balance, you can train your breath.
Here’s why:
- Nasal passages can absolutely reopen with consistent use even if you have a deviated septum.
- The tongue and jaw can be retrained to hold a better position
- Your brain’s nervous system can establish new healthy patterns with practice
Simple Tools to Start
You don’t need a bunch of fancy gear or expensive procedures. Start with these:
- Nasal breathing during the day: Keep your lips closed and breathe slowly through your nose as much as possible.
- Tongue posture training: Keep the tongue resting on the roof of the mouth.
- Nasal sprays to ease congestion: This helps initially when training your nose for nasal breathing. These can be simple saline sprays for mild congestion or steroid sprays to reduce inflammation and swelling.
- Mouth tape at night: Helps keep your mouth shut for nasal breathing during sleep. I would suggest not using this until you are able to nasal breathe consistently during the day.
- Posture work and gentle exercises to open the airway and reduce tension. Sleeping on your sides also helps for a more restful sleep.
Progress Happens Quickly
Most people can begin to feel:
- More alert and focused within a few days
- Get deeper sleep from less snoring within a week or two
- Increased energy and improving mood over time
You will notice improvements with increased nasal breathing within a couple of weeks of committed practice. The biggest change comes from your quality of sleep and mental calmness.
Conclusion
Mouth breathing may seem harmless but it takes a big hit to your health, especially over time. It also impacts your energy levels, your stress levels, your posture and your sleep. It even impacts your appearance. Because it goes unnoticed and the impact worsens over time, you don’t really notice – until its impact becomes too much to ignore.
The good thing is that you can change the way you breathe. I know, because I did it. And when you do, you’ll likely sleep better, think better, and feel better—no matter your age.
Take the first step today. Shut your mouth, breathe through your nose, and start to reclaim your energy and your edge, one breath at a time.
Check out What Functional Breathing Actually Means.
