I’ve always had difficulty breathing through my nose ever since I got head bashed straight in the nostrils, but even with my increased mouth breathing, the cognitive decline hasn’t been able to touch my ability to make light of myself.

> Also, I always had difficulty breathing through my nose, so it personally bothers me seeing this association.

I do too. I always assumed it was a defect and, from what I've read, it appears to be a defect that's likely to affect my cognitive and physical health in negative ways. The association between obstructed nasal breathing and bad sleep is pretty well-established, and the effects of bad sleep on everything from the brain to the heart are also pretty well-established.

I'm sorry that our open mouths are slowly dehydrating our brains, but being an ostrich about it won't help.

> Also, I always had difficulty breathing through my nose, so it personally bothers me seeing this association.

This. As somebody with a deviated septum (and also asthma), the 'mouth breather' insult is pretty obnoxious. I've never been able to breathe particularly well though my nose.

(Yeah, surgery could probably fix/improve it it, but I've lived with it decades at this point, and I've got more important health issues to worry about)

Nice, mustn't let a little humor go unscolded.

Yup, definitely a mouth breather.

This line of discussion lead to me learning that mitigating a deviated septum can be life changing, and someone else finding out about a laser nasal expansion surgery, both which reduces the number of mouth brea…sorry, oral aspirators on this planet. This has a direct impact on cognitive ability, thus we can say that we have directly contributed towards increasing Earth consciousness today.

I find that to be of the highest quality, and it all started with some sneering.

I have been able to clear nose blocks by intentionally stopping the mouth breathing (which means I’m holding my breath) for several seconds. YMMV.

I got mine expanded via laser surgery was a life changer.