“The nose is the part of your lungs you can touch with your fingers”, Doctor Luca Malvezzi, otolaryngologist and head-and-neck surgeon at Humanitas, said during an interview for Radio24’s program “Heart and money”.
“Breathing through your mouth is not the same thing as breathing through your nose. In fact, the nose makes air warm, moist and clean, working as a filter. If nose and sinuses work badly, lungs work badly too in the majority of cases”, Doctor Malvezzi highlights.
Symptoms that should not be underestimated
“This is why you should care for the health of your nose. Pay attention to the presence of conditions such as respiratory issues, too many sneezes, excessive secretions, persistent cold. These situations require the opinion of a specialist, and they have to be studied to restore a good nasal respiration and also to preserve an optimal lung functionality”, the specialist points out.
Do children breathe through their mouth because of adenoids?
“Children normally produce a lot of mucus, and this is normal. Iin fact, their airway is different from that they will have as adults.
In children adenoids and tonsils are lymphatic tissues, and we need them to complete the immune system. When a child comes across an external pathogenic agent their body does not already know, adenoids and tonsils work more and become larger. This behavior protects the body, but it also causes children to breathe badly in the night, with their mouth open, as if they were wheezing. If you notice these symptoms, you should go to a specialist to get the right diagnosis”, Doctor Malvezzi recommends.
