Therapy? Method?

It is exercises mostly revolving around the tongue and face.

What is my method?  

I don’t really like to use the word “therapy” because it has a negative stigma surrounding it; I prefer to use exercising, training, coaching, muscle toning, and increasing function.  Together, we will work on improving the muscle tone of the lips and tongue to restore their function, which is necessary to become a successful nasal breather. Furthermore, proper tongue posture will help keep teeth from shifting after orthodontics, but it can also lessen the amount of crowding in one’s mouth (less length of ortho needed when done as a child).  I want to help you effectively restore function to muscles that you may not use much, which will in turn help the shape of your face and mouth.  I also want this to be fun and not threating; I’m helping, yes, but I want you to think of me as more of a friendly coach or exercise trainer!

Appearance?

Another disclaimer is that your appearance and overall function can and will change, but for the better!!!

Like so many things… if you don’t use it you lose it.  If you have a cast on your arm and don’t use that arm at the same capacity as the other for several weeks while in the cast then you will lose some muscle in the arm (the arm will be thinner than the other when the cast comes off).  Well, it’s the same for muscles of the face and mouth.  If you don’t utilize certain muscles of the tongue, lips, throat, chin, and nose then they will not develop to their fullest potential.  Your chin will appear regressed. Your nose could be distorted. Your upper lip could become flaccid (meaning it is not pronounced giving you a gummy looking smile). Oftentimes, your nasal passages and nostrils could be distorted and asymmetrical (making it harder to breathe through your nose). 

Nasal Breathing?

Nasal breathing enhances growth and overall health.  We can live without food and water for an extended  period of time, but we can’t live without breathing for any substantial length of time.  Shouldn’t we want the best quality of breathing?

We strive for quality over quantity in most areas of our lives, so why don’t we strive for exceptional breathing? With that, we can achieve optimal performance in sports, school, work, and life in general.  It seems like something that’s so simple should only come natural to us all, right?   It does…  breathing does come naturally and as infants we can suckle and breathe at the same time, but somewhere as we grow many of us develop a habit of mouth breathing.  This in turn can completely alter the shape of our face, nasal passages, and mouth; this one simple bad habit can lead to crowded teeth, narrow mouths, poor tongue posture, longer shaped faces, retracted chins, deviations of the nose, higher risk for dental concerns - the list goes on… Those issues can manifest into poor sleep, tossing and turning, frequent urination in the night, poor concentration, hyperactive responses in children, and sleep apnea (and we all know that sleep apnea leads to strain on the heart and other organs). 

Why do we mouth breathe?

Basically, what is done as a child is usually exaggerated into adulthood.  The sooner a concern is addressed, the smaller effect on the long-term health and wellbeing of a person. Many health care professionals blame childhood snoring on enlarged tonsils and adenoids, but they miss that it can also be from poor oral facial function.  My daughter’s tonsils and adenoids were removed, and her airway was vastly improved, but she still had the habit of mouth breathing.  No one ever told me she needed to relearn to breathe to fully benefit from the surgery.  Why would I want to put her through surgery if she could not reap maximum benefits?

Summary and some key points:

** My daughter quit grinding her teeth and wetting the bed after her airway improved from surgery, but she was still a mouth breather due to habit.

** The majority of those with ADHD have sleep-disordered breathing. Sometimes the ADHD symptoms can be improved by proper breathing and sleep.

** Diaphragm breathing rather than chest breathing gives your body a higher quality of oxygen and uses your entire lungs. Mouth breathing typically only utilizes the upper 1/3 of your lungs.