Your Nose Makes a Gas Your Mouth Can't: Why Nose Breathing Matters

Your nose makes a gas your mouth can't. It's called nitric oxide, and it's one of the biggest reasons nose breathing beats mouth breathing for most of your day.

What is nitric oxide?

Nitric oxide (NO) is a gas your body uses to help relax and widen blood vessels and to help fight off germs. Your paranasal sinuses, the air spaces around your nose, produce it constantly. In a 1995 study in Nature Medicine (Lundberg et al.), researchers found that the sinuses are a major source of the nitric oxide in the air you breathe in.

When you breathe through your nose, that sinus nitric oxide gets carried down into your lungs with every breath. Breathe through your mouth and you bypass it. Studies measuring it have found roughly double the nitric oxide with nose breathing compared with mouth breathing.

Nose vs. mouth: what happens with every breath

• Filters dust and germs. Nose hairs and mucus catch particles before they reach your lungs. Your mouth doesn't.
• Warms and humidifies air. Your nose conditions air so it's easier on your airways. Mouth breathing tends to dry out your throat.
• Carries sinus nitric oxide. Only nose breathing brings it along.
• Slows and calms your breathing. The nose adds a little resistance, which naturally slows your breath down and can help you feel calmer.

When to breathe through your nose (and when not to)

Nose: walks, warm-ups, easy drilling, and sleep.
Mouth: hard efforts only, like long rallies, sprints and intense drills, when you need more air than your nose can move.

You don't have to force nose breathing during hard play. The goal is to make it your default the rest of the time.

How to start

1. Check yourself 3 times today. Notice whether your mouth is open while you're working, scrolling or driving.
2. Warm up with your mouth closed. Before your next pickleball session, do 5 minutes of easy movement breathing only through your nose.
3. Walk it. On your next walk, keep your mouth closed. If you have to open it, slow down a little.

Check with your doctor if…

You often can't breathe through your nose, snore loudly, wake up gasping, or feel very tired during the day. Those can be signs of a blocked airway or a sleep issue worth checking. Don't tape your mouth shut at night without talking to a doctor first. This article is for education and isn't medical advice.

Ready to put it into practice on the court? Grab the Panther Singles Starter Kit and make nose-breathing warm-ups part of your routine.

Your turn: Next time you play, try your full warm-up with your mouth closed. How did it feel?

Source: Lundberg JO et al., Nature Medicine, 1995 (PMID 8564139).