Clearing your nose as important as brushing teeth: dentist

You brushed your teeth and said your prayers, and now you’re ready for bed.

Not so fast, says one expert.

Clearing your nose may be just as important a pre-sleep ritual as brushing your teeth, says Dr. Sebastian Lomas, a UK-based dentist.

In a TikTok video’s description, Lomas wrote to his 21,400 followers, “It’s time to add nose clearing to your nighttime routine.”

He added, “I would argue that clearing your nose before bed is just as important as brushing your teeth.”

The reason, according to Lomas, is ensuring your sinuses are clear, which can help with getting a good night’s sleep and ending your snoring.

Snoring isn’t just an odd habit: It can wake people up throughout the night and cause them — snorers as well as their bed partners — to feel exhausted all day.

In serious cases, snoring can signal a health problem such as obstructive sleep apnea, a common condition linked to cardiac problems that can be fatal if left untreated, according to Yale Medicine.

Clearing your sinuses, Lomas explains, can help end snoring: “If you can’t breathe through your nose, you are going to mouth breathe and you are going to snore.”

Lomas demonstrates proper sinus-clearing technique: Standing up straight, he breathes in through his nose and then out while keeping his mouth closed.

Next, he pinches the tip of his nose and moves his head from side to side so that his ears almost touch his shoulders. While doing this, he attempts to pop his ears for at least five seconds.

Lomas then unpinches his nose and takes a deep breath in and out.

Roughly half of people snore at some point in their lives, according to University of Utah Health. The habit is more common among men, though many women snore.

Snoring seems to run in families and becomes more common with age. About 40% of adult men and 24% of adult women are lifelong snorers.

The most common causes of snoring include weight gain, allergies, alcohol use, an irregular sleep position and certain medications.

There are countless home remedies and devices available for snoring, and over-the-counter devices such as pillows or mouthpieces may help some snorers, but the efficacy of any given solution will vary from one person to another.

“For people who have sleep apnea, it’s important to know that over-the-counter products for snoring are almost always different than FDA-approved therapies for sleep apnea and that improvement in snoring may not indicate effective treatment of sleep apnea,” said Dr. Sarah McConville, assistant professor at University of Utah Health.