Yes. Noses are often blocked because of irritation, dehydration and inflammation – all side-effects of chronic over-breathing, the faulty breathing habit most often seen in people with asthma, snoring, and anxiety. When you learn to breathe correctly, airway irritation reduces. In almost 30 years of breathing retraining, I have rarely seen a nose that won’t at least partially clear within the first 5 minutes of beginning to change a poor breathing pattern. 

Many people cannot tolerate ‘forcing’ nose-breathing by simply trying to keep their mouth closed, or through wearing a chin strap, or other tool to aid lip closure, as they may become claustrophobic or feel uncomfortable. The BreatheAbility style of breathing retraining gradually ‘reconditions’ you, so you can achieve nose breathing, comfortably, at your own pace. The initial step may be to breathe more gently through your mouth or to adjust your posture. 

 Acute hyperventilation or ‘over-breathing’ is an obvious feature during a panic attack. You dump out lots of carbon dioxide. While less noticeable, the chronic form of over-breathing is very common in people with anxiety and panic disorders. Research has found people with panic disorders breathe 12 L a minute at rest when it should be 5 L. Chronic over-breathing alters carbon dioxide levels and blood chemistry and contributes to hyper-arousal of your nervous system (fight-or-flight), with too much of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol being produced. Chronic over-breathing is like having your foot on the accelerator all the time. You are ‘primed’ and trigger-happy. 

Your brain chemistry is directly affected by the way you breathe. The carbon dioxide level in your blood is the primary determinant of your body’s chemical balance (pH). While your breathing pattern is not the only influence, you are going to have more normal and more stable brain chemistry if you gain control of your breathing.

 Consider this: unless you have had facial injuries, you likely have had the same anatomy – the same shaped nose and upper palate and the same sized jaw and tongue – all your adult life. If you are 45 now and chronically snore, but did not at age 28, it is more likely the way you breathe has changed over the years than your tongue has grown larger or your septum more deviated. Likely you breathe faster or heavier now than you used to. If so, there is a very good chance that breathing retraining will help. That’s not to say that having a bent or narrow nose and a receded jaw does not put you at greater risk of snoring and apnoea. It’s just that the way you breathe is a critical element in determining how much trouble they will cause you (see Chapter 6 of Relief from snoring and Sleep Apnoea). 

While issues including being overweight, anatomical abnormality, or structural dysfunction can play a part in your “throat collapsing”, there is always a component of dysfunctional breathing present and it is highly likely that it is contributing.
Those great big breaths that get sucked in fast during a bout of heavy snoring can create a suction force sufficient to bring the walls of the throat closer together. Breathing retraining can help restore a stable, even breathing pattern and reset a ‘breathing over-drive’. 

 Breathing retraining offers welcome relief to those who cannot tolerate sleeping with a face mask and a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. While CPAP is generally very effective, research indicates that over 50 per cent of people suffering from sleep apnoea are non-compliant with the recommended therapy. Thankfully breathing can be retrained – you can learn to breathe with a more functional/normal breathing pattern. 

There appears to be a general lack of knowledge about breathing pattern dysfunction. Many doctors are not well informed about the principles of breathing retraining, and observation and assessment of a patient’s habitual breathing pattern is not a routine assessment. Many doctors have simply not considered breathing retraining as an option for their patients. 

Breathing retraining is a logical, scientific and conservative approach to the management of breathing disorders. Your doctor should be no more reluctant to suggest you improve your breathing habits than to recommend other self-help approaches such as stopping smoking, avoiding alcohol, losing weight, getting fit and sleeping on your side with your mouth closed. Not only is addressing disordered breathing patterns common sense, it also makes economic sense.

 There appears to be a general lack of knowledge about breathing pattern dysfunction. Many doctors are not well informed about the principles of breathing retraining, and observation and assessment of a patient’s habitual breathing pattern is not a routine assessment. Many doctors have simply not considered breathing retraining as an option for their patients. 

Breathing retraining is a logical, scientific and conservative approach to the management of breathing-related disorders. Your doctor should be no more reluctant to suggest you improve your breathing habits than to recommend other self-help approaches for anxiety disorders, such as such as seeing a psychologist, meditation, yoga, avoiding alcohol, losing weight, and getting regular exercise.

 People usually notice benefits such as less nasal congestion, less cough and asthma symptoms, being more relaxed, having a lower heart rate, and quieter and easier breathing within hours. Better sleep is often reported right from the first night. ‘The best sleep in decades’ is a frequent comment. 

 If the breathing exercises you learnt involved big, deep in-breaths with full exhales, particularly if by mouth, then likely you caused a shortfall in carbon dioxide in your blood. This can result in some blood vessels narrowing and reducing the amount of oxygen that gets through to your brain and muscle cells. Thus dizziness, anxiety, panic, breathlessness, and fatigue may occur. The difference with a breathing retraining program like that of the BreatheAbility approach, is that you are taught to breathe normally – at the correct rate and volume – so that you keep your blood chemistry in balance. This is essential in allowing the oxygen in your blood to actually get to the cells where it is needed. This is vastly different from a focus on getting as much oxygen into your lungs as possible. 

Why not? You are breathing all the time aren’t you? You can make changes in your breathing any time in the day – while you watch television, walk to the car, sit on a plane or a train. Breath awareness and breath management can be applied during many activities. You have around 16,000 opportunities a day to make a difference.
This is one of the advantages for busy people of breathing retraining over other exercise programs.

 No, you can practise breathing correctly while you continue to use medications, machines and appliances, attend counselling sessions and so on. In fact, improving your breathing can help you get more from other therapies and make it easier to tolerate an oral splint or a face mask and CPAP machine. Ultimately though, if you return your breathing to normal, your requirement for other treatments may change and then you can discuss your situation with your doctor. See Chapter 25 – “Working with your doctor” – in both books – Relief from Anxiety and Panic, and Relief from Snoring and Sleep Apnoea.