ADHD and mouth breathing

amother

Sand

Thu, Jan 25 2024, 11:56 pm

honeymoon wrote:

Thank you. How much can I expect to shell out to treat this?

Evaluations are generally over $475, then subsequent sessions are $250 or less. That's how much it is in my area (LI). I think Dina charges $550 for evals. I am in the field so these are the going rates. I am in the field and even I can't afford these prices. My toddler mouth breathes as well and I'm overwhelmed with where to start too.

honeymoon

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 10:40 am

amother Sand wrote:

That's a lot of money. I wonder if there's anything I can do on my own to help them.

honey36

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 10:56 am

honeymoon wrote:

That's a lot of money. I wonder if there's anything I can do on my own to help them.

I agree it's a lot of money. I'm also in the field. I think there is a lot you can do to help them on your own.

First and foremost - find out what it's causing the mouth breathing. Large tonsils/adenoids? Chronic congestion? Allergies? Asthma? Or maybe they had one of these in past, grew out of it or treated it and now is it just a habit? First you need to treat any of those primary causes.

If it's truely just a habit at this point, you can do myofunctional therapy right away. Honestly, it's really not hard, but it does take a lot of motivation, attention to detail, perseverance and consistency. It's just the same as changing any other habit, like slouching/bad posture for example. Think of it as your kids mouth/tongue are always in a slouching position.

amother

DarkViolet

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 11:20 am

honey36 wrote:

Agree with this.

An ENT can help you figure out if there's anything structural preventing nose breathing.

Even a regular orthodontist should be able to tell you if there's a narrow jaw or very high palate. Some dentists can identify hidden posterior tongue ties. Palate expansion even with a mainstream ortho can be very helpful. Just don't let them pull any teeth.

As far as therapy, there's plenty you can do on your own. Look into myospots, the remplenish myo nozzle water bottle or straw. Some of the books I linked above have exercises too. You can look up myofunctional exercises on YouTube.

There are also some myofunctional therapists who take insurance.

amother

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 11:23 am

Oh wow. This is great info.

Thanks all!

So if my son has allergies and probably enlarged tonsils and adenoids he should first be seen by an ENT?

Any recommendations for a good ENT in Monsey area that is familiar with this connection?

I’m afraid to go to some random one because they might not be familiar with this concept.

I guess I’m open to traveling too if that’s necessary for a trustworthy doctor

amother

DarkViolet

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 11:33 am

amother OP wrote:

They don't need to buy into the adhd connection, you can just say you noticed he breathes through his mouth and want to address it, that should be good enough. Or if he's having any sleep issues you can definitely mention that.

honey36

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 11:59 am

amother OP wrote:

I've actually found ENTs so be not very helpful. They usually don't want to operate unless there is a "real medical issue" like recurrent strep or real sleep apnea. If it's just mild snoring and/or mouth breathing, they often won't consider it a "real medical issue" and won't do anything about it.

But yeah, the large tonsils/adenoids will make it very difficult for DS to breathe through his nose consistently. You can try taking him off dairy or the like... That may help. Or you can push the ENT to operate, but that's not too fun either. Basically I haven't found a great solution for this issue 😕

honeymoon

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 12:30 pm

honey36 wrote:

Thank you so much. I've been to different Ent's with one of my kids and they all said the adenoids and tonsils are fine. I'd rather not go the operating route if it can be resolved with exercises or other less invasive means.

It may be chronic congestion which has turned into a habit, not sure. Myofuntional therapy would just train them how to breathe properly or does it correct the cause?

honeymoon

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 12:31 pm

amother DarkViolet wrote:

Thank you. I'll check out the links. Can you recommend specific youtube videos?

amother

Alyssum

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 12:34 pm

honey36 wrote:

I actually appreciated that my ENT wasn’t jumping to operate…

honey36

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 12:53 pm

honeymoon wrote:

There is a dispute as to whether Myo can correct causes like large tonsils/adenoids. Many therapists will tell you they have seen them shrink with treatment, but I'm not sure there is research backing this up.

In any case, of course you can try the therapy without operating. It just might be much harder for your child to achieve nasal breathing if they have a partial blockage of the airway.

honey36

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 12:55 pm

amother Alyssum wrote:

I actually appreciated that my ENT wasn’t jumping to operate…

I kind of also do. Definitely wouldn't willingly put my child under a knife unless really warranted obviously. OTOH, it makes your child's and therapist job harder usually. That's why I don't have a great solution and am still torn about the issue. 😕

honey36

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 12:57 pm

amother Seafoam wrote:

This is so interesting.
How would you know if your child is a mouth breather? By seeing how they sleep?

You can check when sleeping or anytime during the day they are not talking or eating (e.g. looking at a book, screen time, playing quietly). If their mouth is open, even a bit, their probably mouth breathing.

amother

Alyssum

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 1:17 pm

honey36 wrote:

So in my case, the ENT would’ve gone forward with it if I wanted. But he said that it was borderline and agreed with me that it was fine to monitor.

amother

DarkViolet

Fri, Jan 26 2024, 1:44 pm

honey36 wrote:

Tonsils and adenoids are a chicken and egg kind of thing. Enlarged T&A will cause mouth breathing, and mouth breathing [for other reasons] can cause enlarged T&A due to chronic inflammation and pathogens getting trapped there.

You need to figure out what came first, or address from both ends at once.

Airway expansion so the tongue has space to rest up on top, tongue tie release so the tongue can reach the top, working on the tongue resting up on top and keeping lips closed can actually help tonsils and adenoids shrink.

From the other end, outside of having then removed, an anti histamine and sleeping with a HEPA air purifier can help take down the swelling if it's allergy related, and long term antibiotics, or herbal antibiotics and anti virals can help if it's a chronic infection causing the swelling. Obviously if it's a food allergy contributing, eliminating that will help as well.