Blocked nose can be a very troublesome and annoying symptom and if you have been suffering from it for a while, a visit to an ENT Specialist is highly recommended.
Normal breathing should occur through your nose. Your nose and sinuses has the following important functions:
- Breathing
- Humidification and warming of the air that you breathe in
- Protection against dirt, bacteria and foreign bodies
- Smell
- Shapes the quality of your voice
If you constantly breathe through your mouth, you bypass the filtering and humidifying functions of the nose and sinuses. As a result, you may experience a dry mouth, sore throat and bad breath. Mouth breathing also predisposes you to snoring and a potentially dangerous health condition known as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
OSA is a condition in which you "stop breathing" for a short period of time many times throughout the night due to upper airway collapse. Snoring is a sign of OSA and anyone who snores should see an ENT Specialist or a doctor trained in Sleep Medicine for an assessment.
Hope this helps and all the best.
