Why would mouth breathing cause sore throats?

I've been getting sore throats lately. I keep taking my mask off so I'm trying to find the reason. I'm wearing a nasal mask. I do not have a dry mouth upon waking up. I don't know if I'm a mouth breather or not. I wake up with my mouth closed. My filter was kind of dirty so I changed it.

Why would mouth breathing cause sore throats? And does anyone have experience with a full face mask resolving this? Looking to get one tomorrow!

MB causes sore throats by drying out tissues. But if you have the humidifier too high when local humidity's high enough, you can also cause 'cold' symptoms... you don't need humidity unless you do, e.g. in winter when central heating dries everything out, or at high elevations where things are dry, etc. etc.

rara200284 wrote:I've been getting sore throats lately. I keep taking my mask off so I'm trying to find the reason. I'm wearing a nasal mask. I do not have a dry mouth upon waking up. I don't know if I'm a mouth breather or not. I wake up with my mouth closed. My filter was kind of dirty so I changed it.

Why would mouth breathing cause sore throats? And does anyone have experience with a full face mask resolving this? Looking to get one tomorrow!

Well, mouth-breathing or mouth-leaking channels the air through your throat.......and if your throat is sore, that's a likely possibility or source for that problem. Of course it could be just something you "caught" being around other people, too.

Are you using software and monitoring your nightly data? If not, I'd strongly suggest it.

Make sure you check or change your filters in a reasonable, timely manner.


Den

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Two possibilities that mouth breathing would cause a sore throat come to mind. The first is that, if you are mouth breathing before you take the mask off in your sleep, your mouth and pharynx (back of mouth/upper throat) is drying out. That, by itself, can result in a sore throat. But I'd suspect that at least part of the problem is that streptococcus bacteria**, which are always present in the pharynx, http://www.slideshare.net/Firedemon13/i ... se-pharynx thrive in the region of the nasopharynx where airflow is the most rapid. If you are mouth breathing, the airflow will be most rapid right behind your uvula, and those pesky opportunistic streptococci might be invading new territory, causing local irritation.

Maybe TMI, but that's what I think. My pulmonologist told me than humans aren't designed to be mouth-breathers. So anything you can do to avoid becoming one is probably a good thing to do.

** Streptococci, the bacteria that are responsible for the so-called "strep-throat" are always present, and usually cause no harm. However, from time to time, conditions favor the proliferation of the bacteria, or they spontaneously mutate into a virulent form, and begin attacking the tissues on which they reside. Streptococci are particularly vulnerable to high salt concentrations, so gargling with warm salt water is a very good way to reduce their population while your immune system is mounting its defense.

I can imagine waking up with bruises on my throat because
the mouth breathing was a wee bit more noisy than the bullfrog could stand.

rara200284 wrote:I've been getting sore throats lately. I keep taking my mask off so I'm trying to find the reason. I'm wearing a nasal mask. I do not have a dry mouth upon waking up. I don't know if I'm a mouth breather or not. I wake up with my mouth closed. My filter was kind of dirty so I changed it.

Why would mouth breathing cause sore throats? And does anyone have experience with a full face mask resolving this? Looking to get one tomorrow!

I'm wondering why your filter was dirty after only 3 weeks of use.

If your mouth comes open while using a nasal mask, air will rush in through your nose and out through your mouth. Much more than the normal amount of air will flow through your nose and mouth. This dries you out due to the higher "wind speed," just like a bathroom hand dryer. The humidifier is less effective because it has to humidify more air.

Your machine reports leak, so it will show if your mouth is open all night long. However, if you only open your mouth part of the night, it may not show up in your nightly average leak numbers, but still might make your throat sore. If you have the optional data module, SleepyHead will read the SD card data, but I'm not sure how much info it has on leak.

rara200284 wrote:... Why would mouth breathing cause sore throats?...

One of the things not mentioned so far is the anti-bacterial effect of saliva. Mouth breathing without adequate humidity limits the amount and distribution of saliva. That's why, if you are a mouth breather, that you adjust the humidity level to the highest level that you can tolerate. More, in this instance, is really better. The down side is the effects of rainout, etc. on sleep quality. It's a balancing act. Nose breathers have a built-in advantage in the nasal passages that are designed to humidify the air on intake. - Oh well.

Wouldn't people wake up though from mouth leaks? I know when I have my mask on and I open my mouth, I sound like a damn blow dryer. I don't know how someone can sleep with a mouth leak especially with the confusion of inhaling through the hose and venting out the mouth.

rara200284 wrote:Wouldn't people wake up though from mouth leaks? I know when I have my mask on and I open my mouth, I sound like a damn blow dryer. I don't know how someone can sleep with a mouth leak especially with the confusion of inhaling through the hose and venting out the mouth.

One would think so, but everybody's different.
I've slept through some extensive Large Leaks with a full face mask, too. Didn't know it till I looked at my reports in the morning.


Den

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Leaks don't have to be huge to affect things - many people try chin straps, keeping their jaws closed, only to find that their lips still allow lots of air to escape.

rara200284 wrote:Wouldn't people wake up though from mouth leaks? I know when I have my mask on and I open my mouth, I sound like a damn blow dryer. I don't know how someone can sleep with a mouth leak especially with the confusion of inhaling through the hose and venting out the mouth.

You're probably only opening your mouth a little. Although a lot of people do post reports with rather extreme amounts of mouth leaking.

A little bit of airflow will still thicken throat secretions enough to render them ineffective.
Thick mucus is nearly useless, and a nuisance, too. Germs love it.
Guaifenesin thins mucus, but only when taken with WATER.

Not all mouth breathing equals massive air exiting the mouth and it doesn't take but a little mouth breathing to dry out the mouth or throat. Depends on the person and maybe meds.
Normally mouth breathing dry/sore throat won't last all that long
But yes...some people can sleep through some massive leaks...been there and done that myself only to see it on the reports the next day and I wondered how in the world that those big leaks didn't wake me up.

I also have done an experiment to see what low level mouth breathing will show up as on a leak graph.
Woke up one morning mouth breathing gently (no massive air exiting the mouth) so I decided to lay there for a little while and just continue the mouth breathing so that I could see what it looked like on the leak graph.
Wasn't nearly as spectacular as I thought it might be.
Here's the image....I circled the known mouth breathing at the end of the night. Mouth was nasty dry.
I also slept through the 3 AM big leak..have no idea if that was mouth related or just the nasal pillows moving out of place.