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Comment by sofixa | Hacker News Reader

> Breathe through your nose. It can be hard at first but it gets easier over time

I'm stumped here. Isn't that the normal way to breathe? Why would it be hard, unless you have some medical condition like sleep apnea, which requires treatment in itself?

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I have to actively try to breathe through my nose, it's often congested (having a pet despite allergies doesn't help), and it's just simpler to breathe through my mouth, cause that just works.

Medical interventions are possible, but I'm not thrilled with the side effects of the medicines I've tried, and surgery has some really awful tail risks, so there's that. I was recently recomended to try B1 (thiamine) suppliments related to sleep apnea, not sure if it helps with that, but it does seem to open up my nasal passages, and taking it before bed seems to be helpful with breathing during sleep. YMMV, not medical advice, etc.

Why would you get a pet when you're allergic?

Gain > Loss, I suppose

My baby poodle is on the couch with me, fast asleep. Her little legs twitch. Sometimes she does little yips in her sleep. I wonder what she dreams about. I hope she feels love for me, close to what I feel for her.

Oh, allergies. Yeah they suck. Dogs are nice though.

Why would you want to live without one?

I like being able to breathe. Its one of my favorite things to do, goes along well with being able to drink water and digest solid nutrients.

You might not feel so strongly about a non-hypoallergenic (er, allergenic?) breed that it's worth suffering. (Probably you'll end up loving the breed you choose above all others anyway, whatever your feelings on or awareness of it beforehand.)

Well, my first two cats, I didn't realize I was allergic, because there's so many other allergens anyway. It became pretty clear the cat was a significant allergen with the second one, but it would take a lot for me to want to rehome a cat who I had bonded with and was well behaved. The current one was supposed to be a barn cat, which would be fine, but at least lately he's decided to hang out indoors a lot (he's well behaved and a snuggler). Cats and I get along well, other than the allergies.

In summary, humans do all sorts of things that are not wise; of all the stupid things I could do, this isn't so bad.

I can breathe, breathing through my mouse is normal for me, so if allergies clog up my nose, it's just another day.

A vegan diet has made a huge difference in clearing my nose pathways.

I had chronic allergies growing up, so my nose was ALWAYS stuffed up and I had to breathe through my mouth. When I moved somewhere where my allergies weren't as severe, it took me years of conscious effort to breathe through my nose by default. Sometimes I still catch myself breathing through my mouth!

Allergies. It is very very rare I can breath through my nose. Really wish I could because life is so much better when it does. I have been told surgical operation only works for about 10 years before it comes back. And no long term medication seems to be able to deal with it without some side effect.

I am not a "yoga type" so I was completely unaware of Neti pots. By chance my doctor told me about a "Rhino horn" which is available at the local pharmacies around here. It is the same thing.

https://www.yogaprosess.com/usa/

(I am not affiliated - any odd neti pot will do!)

You mix salt and lukewarm water. It gives instant relief. Even if you are not fully obstructed it relaxes the nose. When fully obstructed just have a little patience and it will rinse through.

I think Yoga practitioners use it as part of their daily morning routine. But I am too lazy and only use it when I have a cold or allergies (been around cats and horses).

It was a really weird thing to use the first couple of times. But the relief is so worth it.

This is a total game changer for a CPAP user. If you nose is clear when you go to sleep the pressure from CPAP it often enough to keep the nostrils free.

Thanks. I Actually did that long before Yoga was a thing. It only works for about 10-30 min. Then it is blocked again.

When I was a child mouth-breather was an insult. I’ve also always thought one should breathe through one’s nose.

Normal is different for different people. It feels much more natural for me to breathe through my mouth. But I suppose the fact that "mouth-breather" is an insult meant to attack one's intelligence is a sign I'm in the minority on this.

Neck muscle problems sometimes show up as sinus issues. All the muscles of the head are tightly linked in crazy feedback loops. For example, there's a muscle at the base of the back of your neck called the suboccipital that is linked to your eyeballs. You can feel it flex and move when you move your eyes around! That's totally unintuitive to me from a basis of minimal human biology knowledge.

Anyways, this is very relevant to knowledge workers many of us eventually succumb to forward head posture, which is like slamming on the brakes of a car doing 100mph. Except we do it every day for hours at a time. Eventually stuff gives out.

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