If nasal passages are stuffed up, breathing clearly and sleeping well can seem impossible. | stock photo
If nasal passages are stuffed up, breathing clearly and sleeping well can seem impossible. | stock photo
Studies show that breathing through your nose for four seconds, holding it for four seconds and exhaling from your mouth for four seconds helps reduce feelings of anxiety, according to The New York Times.
However, when stuffiness or a blockage occurs in one or both nostrils, this relaxation technique is hard to do — even impossible.
“Mouth breathing is not good; it can affect sleep quality,” Dr. Anthony Sanders, a doctor from Indianapolis Sinus Center, told South Indy News. “For instance, you’re probably more likely to have sleep apnea, which is a major problem it its own right. But I think the major thing with these symptoms, some people have had them for so long, they are almost considered normal.”
There are several reasons why stuffiness happens. The pressure can cause aching in the upper jaw and teeth or ear pain. However, if the inflammation has persisted for more than three months, it may be considered "chronic sinusitis," reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This condition affects how mucus drains and may make the area around the eyes feel swollen or tender, according to Mayo Clinic.
People with chronic sinusitis are 41% more likely to suffer from depression and 45% more likely to suffer from anxiety, Physician's Weekly reported.
A study published in the JAMA Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery found that chronic sinusitis patients exhibited decreased brain connectivity that modulates cognition, introspection and response to external stimuli.
One treatment for this is balloon sinuplasty, a procedure that has been used with success since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it in 2005.
“The beauty of the balloon sinus procedure is that people tend not to have much disruption of normal nasal function, so they tend to have noses that work normally; they breathe better,” Sanders told South Indy News. “They tend not to have issues with dryness or sounding different or... the change in the resonance of the voice that sometimes goes along with endoscopic sinus surgery. So generally, they recover quickly.”
Chronic sinusitis can make it hard to enjoy everyday life. If you think a specialist could help, take this quiz.
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