How to breathe when taking nebulized meds

[Nikilet]

Why are we told to be sure and breathe out through the mouth and not the nose? I'm asking because my natural inclination is to want to breathe in through my mouth and out through my nose.

[Hidden]

That is really funny. I had to think about it for a while. I am a natural nose breather, in and out but have always breathed by mouth when using my neb over 20 years. I would say that when you breathe out through your mouth you do it with more force than by your nose and therefore empty the lungs more fully and efficiently ready to take the next deep breath to get as much med into your lungs as possible. Maybe somebody else has other ideas.

[Nikilet in reply to Hidden]

This makes sense to me.

[knitter]

I must admit I have never thought about it, but when I use my face mask on my big nebuliser, which is rarely ,I guess I nose breathe in and out.

When I use my small portable I breathe in using the mouthpiece through my mouth and out through my nose.

[Nikilet in reply to knitter]

When I use my small portable I also breathe in through my mouth and out through my nose. I read that for adults, anyway, we should use the mouth piece rather than the face mask. I read that after I had ordered 2 face masks, naturally. :>)

[Hidden]

I think the short answer is that the tubes are bigger and the nose includes a filtering system which the mouth doesn't need exhaling.

[CornishBrian]

The reason we breathe in through the nose are various. First, the nose hairs help filter out dust, pollen etc. Also, because of the large number of blood vessels in the nose, it acts as an air conditioning unit. When the air is very cold, your throat doesn't get hit with a blast of cold air. Similarly, when it's very hot, the nose cools the air down. There is also a section of the brain above the nose, that deals with your body temperature.

Out through the mouth....tricky to explain. First, there is a clear, uncluttered way for spent air to leave. Now the next bit......venturi effect. Remember the old scent bottles with a rubbed bulb on the end? They worked because the air you pumped through the ball, went through a pipe with a restriction over the reservoir of fluid. As the air passed through the restriction, pits speed had to increase. That caused a drop in air pressure and this is what we want to achieve. Air, in thought the nose, out through pursed lips and the stale, used air that is taking up space in our lungs, gets sucked out.

It's a very easy exercise to do and is a brilliant way of regaining your breath without meds, or of getting your sats up or even dealing with a panic attack. It's a distraction remedy but it really has a practical use. If someone is having a panic attack, for any reason, gently explain what you are both going to do, and when a routine has been established, encourage them to try to count when they blow out and then gently increase that count.