Breathing Through the Night: A Little Trick When Sinuses are Stuffed

Living in the city has never been easy on Andrea’s sinuses; but her mother needed to live close to the hospital where she was a practicing physician. Hence, the city was where Andrea had to live (Andrea is not her real name).

Within a month of moving to Green Bay, Andrea’s sinuses swelled to the point where she couldn’t breathe through her nose. Being a doctor, her mother figured Andrea had allergies so Andrea took an antihistamine. When this didn’t work, her mother thought maybe a sinus infection, so Andrea took antibiotics. When that failed, Andrea was taken to see a specialist. After a myriad of allergy tests, it was determined that Andrea was not allergic to anything, so sinus surgery was recommended. For a month after surgery Andrea’s sinuses were clearer; then they swelled again. So she was prescribed a steroid nasal spray and 2 different antihistamines (although the allergy tests were negative). The assessment of the specialist was that Andrea couldn’t have swelling of that magnitude without having allergies to something. So her diet was modified and Andrea took the drugs.

For 6 months, even with antihistamines, the steroid nasal spray and the new diet, Andrea still could not breathe out of her nose. When falling asleep each night, her mouth would close and she would stop breathing. She tried several different methods to help her with her night breathing, but nothing worked for any length of time.

As Andrea’s grades fell because she was tired all day long, Andrea talked to one of her teachers at school who always talked with a nasal voice. How did the teacher manage to get any sleep?

“It’s a simple trick,” the teacher stated. “I use part of a snorkel at night.”

The teacher proceeded to describe how she had pulled part of the snorkel apart, leaving only the rubber mouthpiece. The end result was a T-shaped thing. The mouthpiece went into the mouth (the bottom of the T) and there were then 2 tubes for the air to go in and out (the top of the T). Part of the mouthpiece went between the teeth and the outer part went between the lips and front of the teeth and gums. The mouthpiece kept the mouth open. As it was designed for air movement, the teacher was able to breathe all night long without her mouth closing. Since there were 2 air tubes, if one was blocked by the pillow, the other was open to air—at no time were both air tubes blocked.

Andrea bought herself a cheap snorkel and made it work as the teacher instructed. She began to sleep through the night.

Best wishes,
Dr. Ronda

Disclaimer: The information provided by Dr. Ronda Behnke Theys is for educational purposes only. It is important that you not make health decisions or stop any medication without first consulting your personal physician or health care provider.