ELi5: Why is it often recommended to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth?
In: Biology
The short answer is it is a form of controlled breathing when people are anxious or in distress. A lot of people experience shortness of breath or will hyperventilate when they feel anxious. By having the person focus on how they breathe with simple instructions they can allow the anxiety to pass.
The other use is when people are on oxygen through a nasal cannula. COPD patients are often on oxygen chronically and feel short of breath often. Coaching them to breathe in through the nose and put through the mouth has a dual purpose. In through the nose because that’s where the oxygen is coming in. Out through the mouth (thru pursed lips) to cause back pressure on the lungs to keep them inflated on exhalation. This is really only important to people with lung disease however. Really it comes down to directing people’s focus off what is causing anxiety to work them through it.
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