Abstract
BackgroundMouth breathing could induce not only dry throat and eventually upper respiratory tract infection, but also snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, while nasal breathing is protective against those problems. Thus, one may want to explore an approach to modify habitual mouth breathing as preferable to nasal breathing. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological effects of our newly developed mask on facilitation of nasal breathing.MethodsThirty seven healthy male volunteers were enrolled in a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled crossover trial. Participants wore a newly developed heated humidification mask or non-heated-humidification mask (placebo) for 10-min each. Subjective feelings including dry nose, dry throat, nasal obstruction, ease to breathe, relaxation, calmness, and good feeling were asked before and after wearing each mask. In addition, the effects of masks on nasal resistance, breathing pattern, and heart rate variability were assessed.ResultsCompared with the placebo mask, the heated humidification mask improved all components of subjective feelings except for ease to breathe; moreover, decreased nasal resistance and respiratory frequency accompanied a simultaneous increase in a surrogate maker for tidal volume. However, use of the heated humidification mask did not affect heart rate variabilityConclusionAdding heated humidification to the nasopharynx could modulate breathing patterns with improvement of subjective experience and objective nasal resistance.
Highlights
Humans breathe primarily through nose, but some breathe through the mouth
Compared with the placebo mask, the heated humidification mask improved all components of subjective feelings except for ease to breathe; decreased nasal resistance and respiratory frequency accompanied a simultaneous increase in a surrogate maker for tidal volume
Dry throat and dry mouth are considered as risk factors for upper and lower respiratory tract infection [2], nasal breathing would be preferable to mouth breathing
Summary
Humans breathe primarily through nose, but some breathe through the mouth. Mouth breathing could induce dry throat, while nasal breathing has protective effects on dry throat since the nasal mucosa adds heat and humidification to inspired air during inspiration[1]. It has been reported that local thermotherapy, such as in the facial eyelid region[4] and in the neck region[5], was useful to ameliorate mental stress and fatigue. Based on these background findings, our first attempt was to develop a new mask which can add heat and humidification, and investigation was performed to identify whether the mask can improve nasal resistance and subjective feelings including relaxation, nasal symptoms, and so forth. Mouth breathing could induce dry throat and eventually upper respiratory tract infection, and snoring and obstructive sleep apnea, while nasal breathing is protective against those problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological effects of our newly developed mask on facilitation of nasal breathing
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