About

Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Clinic was founded by Patrick McKeown in 2002 to provide a breathing re-education programme to significantly reduce snoring and sleep apnoea.

The Buteyko Method was developed by Russian doctor Konstantin Buteyko.

An Australian survey of 10,000 patients using the Buteyko Method for snoring and sleep apnoea concluded that:

• Over 95 percent of clients with sleep apnoea had improved sleep
• Approximately 80 percent of clients had been able to cease use of their CPAP machine
• Symptoms such as snoring, headaches, restless legs, low concentration levels and decreased energy levels also improved in the majority of clients
• Click here to read report

The relationship between nasal obstruction, mouth breathing, snoring and sleep apnoea is well documented, 1-3 and for decades the Buteyko Method has been successfully implemented to help control these conditions.

The Buteyko Method consists of breathing re-education designed to reprogram the breathing centre within the brain towards a lighter, healthier and calmer breathing volume. When breathing becomes calmer and lighter, an individual’s sleep and overall health will drastically improve.

If you listen to the breathing of someone who snores or has sleep apnoea, without a doubt you will find it to be noticeable, relatively fast and noisy. People with snoring and sleep apnoea breathe in more air than average, and commonly take 15 to 20 breaths per minute, with each breath taking in more than the normal 500ml of air.

Assuming that each breath is approximately 700ml, the average breathing volume for a person who snores or has sleep apnoea is 10 to 15 litres of air per minute. One study, which investigated the breathing of twenty obese men with OSA and normal lung function, it was found that they breathed 15 litres of air per minute – approximately three times the healthy average. 4 To use food intake as a comparison, this is akin to eating 6 to 9 meals each day!

Mouth breathing during sleep leads to a larger breathing volume as an excess of air is drawn into the lungs. Not only does the negative pressure on the upper airways increase, but over- breathing also causes the airways to cool and dry out, leading to inflammation and further narrowing of the airways.

Several research studies have showed how nasal breathing offers a distinct advantage during sleep, resulting in fewer incidences of obstructive sleep apnoea than when a patient breathes through the mouth at night. (1) For example, in one study, the apnoea hypopnoea index while breathing through the mouth was measured at 43 per hour, while the nasal breathing API was just 1.5. (2)

In one interesting study, which aimed to determine the effect of a blocked nose during sleep, subjects slept with their nostrils blocked on one night and open on another. Blocking of the nose caused participants to wake up more often, reduced the quality of their sleep and caused a significant increase in sleep disorders. (3)

And in another study, to determine the effects of breathing through the nose during sleep, researchers found that the number of sleep disturbances significantly reduced when participants wore porous paper tape across the lips during sleep. (4) In yet another paper, the wearing of a chin strap to prevent mouth breathing demonstrated the same or better results in improving severe obstructive sleep apnoea than the use of a CPAP machine. (5)

The first step to addressing snoring and sleep apnoea is to change to nose breathing both during wakefulness and sleep. This has recently garnered attention from Stanford University based Dr Christian Guilleminault who discovered the condition ‘obstructive sleep apnea’. In a most recent paper he stated that; “the case against mouth breathing is growing, and given its negative consequences, we feel that restoration of the nasal breathing route as early as possible is critical”. (6)

Further reading on the link between breathing re-education and obstructive sleep apnoea can be found in this article written by Respiratory Nurse Mary Birch, which appeared in the Australian Nursing Journal.

In collaboration with the University of Limerick, Patrick McKeown was the instructor in a clinical study investigating the Buteyko Method as a treatment for rhinitis in asthma. Results showed a 70% reduction of nasal symptoms in participants, including snoring, loss of smell, nasal congestion and difficulty breathing through the nose. (7)

After graduating from Trinity College in Dublin, breathing re-education practitioner, Patrick McKeown trained at the Buteyko Clinic of Moscow in 2002, and is accredited by the founder of the Buteyko Method- Professor Konstantin Buteyko. For the past fifteen years, thousands of people have attended his courses to stop snoring, sleep apnoea, insomnia, asthma, rhinitis, fatigue and anxiety both in Ireland and abroad. His courses are available in Dublin, Cork and Galway. He also trains healthcare professionals through Buteyko Clinic International.

New York Times best-selling author of eight books and founder of the largest health website in the world, Dr. Joseph Mercola has interviewed Patrick about the health benefits of Buteyko breathing.

Patrick has written eight books including the newly revised Sleep with Buteyko, The Oxygen Advantage, Asthma free naturally, Close Your Mouth, Anxiety Free, Always Breathe Correctly and Buteyko meets Dr Mew.

For information on snoring and sleep apnoea clinics in Dublin, Cork or Galway, freecall: 1800 931 935 or landline 091 756229 or send an email to info@snoring.ie

1. Rappai M, Collop N, Kemp S, deShazo R. The nose and sleep-disordered breathing: what we know and what we do not know. Chest. 2003 Dec;124(6):2309-23.
2. Fitzpatrick MF 1 , McLean H, Urton AM, Tan A, O’Donnell D, Driver HS. Effect of nasal or oral breathing route on upper airway resistance during sleep. Eur Respir J. 2003 Nov;22(5):827-32.
3. Olsen KD, Kern EB, Westbrook PR. Sleep and breathing disturbance secondary to nasal obstruction. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1981 Sep-Oct;89(5):804- 10.
4. Radwan L, Maszczyk Z, Koziorowski A, Koziej M, Cieslicki J, Sliwinski P, Zielinski J. Control of breathing in obstructive sleep apnea and in patients with the overlap syndrome, Eur Respir J. 1995 Apr; 8(4): p.542-545.
5. Vorona R et. Al. Treatment of Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome with a Chinstrap. J Clin Sleep Med. Dec 15, 2007; 3(7): 729–730.
6. Seo-Young Lee* , Christian Guilleminault, Hsiao-Yean Chiu,**, Shannon S. Sullivan. Mouth breathing, “nasal dis-use” and pediatric sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep and Breathing (2015) Stanford University Sleep Medicine Division, Stanford Outpatient Medical Center,Redwood City CA.
7. Adelola O.A., Oosthuiven J.C., Fenton J.E. Role of Buteyko breathing technique in asthmatics with nasal symptoms. Clinical Otolaryngology.2013, April;38(2):190-191.