Sleeping like this every night... leading to weakened immune function and skin troubles

 

Causes include rhinitis or sleep apnea.

There are various reasons for sleeping with the mouth open. Mainly, patients who have difficulty breathing through the nose due to illness sleep while breathing through the mouth with their mouth open. Common examples include allergic rhinitis, sleep apnea, and upper airway resistance syndrome. Sleep apnea is a condition where breathing temporarily stops during sleep, causing difficulty in normal breathing, leading to sleeping with the mouth open. Upper airway resistance syndrome, a precursor to sleep apnea, is a condition where the airway is narrowed, making breathing difficult during sleep and causing frequent awakenings. Additionally, an excessively high pillow can be a cause. When the head is elevated, the airway narrows, and naturally, the person opens their mouth wider to breathe more easily.

Sleeping with your mouth open causes dryness in the mouth, which can lead to bad breath, cavities, and gum disease. If mouth opening continues, it can also cause facial skeletal changes such as protruding lips or a receding chin. Mouth breathing also weakens the body's immune function. In fact, a study by Dr. Zhang He’s team at Shandong University in China compared 50 people who breathe through their mouth during sleep with 50 who do not, and found that the mouth-breathing group had higher systemic inflammation levels and poorer immune function. Additionally, mouth breathing results in poor oxygen supply, which reduces sleep quality and causes fatigue. When oxygen saturation drops due to mouth breathing, blood circulation becomes less efficient, and metabolism slows down, increasing the likelihood of skin troubles.

To prevent sleeping with your mouth open, it is important to first identify and address the underlying condition. If there is no medical condition, lowering the pillow height is recommended. Generally, the appropriate pillow height for adult men is 6-8cm, and for adult women, 5-7cm. Additionally, using physical devices such as mouth closure bands or mouth closure tapes to block oral breathing can be effective. However, caution is needed for patients with allergies or sleep apnea who have difficulty breathing through their nose, as using tapes or bands may cause breathing problems.