Nasal breathing vs. mouth breathing: Any tips?

I’ve recently taken up hiking, and I know how vital it is to breathe through your nose so the air gets filtered and warmed before it hits your lungs. The problem is, my nose is giving me constant trouble. When it gets congested, trying to inhale through my nostrils is painful—it actually stings—and even then, I can't seem to get enough air in.
On top of that, one side of my nose always feels blocked, almost like my sinuses are perpetually swollen, though I couldn't say for sure.
Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this?

Ugh, I’m dealing with the exact same headache... one specific drive is constantly getting jammed up. It’s like a glitch in the system that just won't quit, and honestly, I haven't the slightest clue why this keeps happening.

I’m definitely no medical expert here, but I’ve noticed something myself. Whenever I catch myself mouth-breathing and then try to switch back to breathing through my nose, it feels like I can’t get quite enough air in. It’s almost like there's a bottleneck, you know? But after a few minutes of adjusting, things settle down and it feels totally normal again.

Since you mentioned those sinus issues, have you actually had a chance to go see a doctor yet?

Jamie Cox29 said:I’ve recently taken up hiking—which is wonderful, truly—and I know how vital it is to breathe through your nose to ensure the air is filtered and warmed before it hits the lungs. However, I am plagued by nasal issues; whenever I get congested, attempting to breathe through my nose causes this intense, stinging sensation, and frankly, I just can't seem to pull in enough oxygen.
It seems one nostril is perpetually blocked—perhaps due to swollen sinuses, though I couldn't say for certain.
What should I do about this?

It sounds like a deviated septum. (And believe me, I understand—whenever the temperature drops, I find myself forced to mouth-breathe during my jogs; I can only really rely on nasal breathing when I am in a state of absolute repose.) If it’s causing you this much distress, you really ought to consult a doctor.

I guess I actually dealt with the exact same thing, though my struggle was more about training myself to finally breathe through my nose instead of my mouth.
It was such a massive, tedious hassle to get used to, but looking back, it was totally worth the effort.
Before I finally made that switch, I was constantly dealing with these nagging sore throats that always seemed to come with a fever, and honestly, I usually had to rely on getting shots just to get the temperature down.
Now, I find myself wondering if I should even bother trying to prevent those bouts of inflammation and fever throughout the year, since most of the time, the fever just seems to vanish overnight anyway.

I don’t have any issues breathing through my mouth or any throat problems, but it’s incredibly frustrating that I can't breathe through my nose. It feels like my nose is constantly running straight down the back of my throat, which triggers this nonstop coughing because of all that congestion settling in.

Go see an ENT specialist. You either have a sinus issue or a deviated septum. They'll diagnose you and give you a plan. Don't waste time waiting. If it's your sinuses, get it treated immediately; once that inflammation becomes chronic, there's no easy fix.

p.s. That throat drainage you mentioned is just a side effect of sinus inflammation called postnasal drip.

Ethan Kelly4 said:I’ve actually been dealing with the exact same issues—though, if I’m being honest, my main struggle was training myself to breathe through my nose instead of my mouth.
It was quite an arduous process, truly, but looking back, the effort was absolutely worth it...

How did you actually manage to pull that off? Did you follow some specific breathing exercises, or was it just a matter of sheer willpower? For me, even just thirty seconds of movement makes nasal breathing feel incredibly exhausting—and don't even get me started on when I'm resting! Even then, it isn't much easier; the air just feels so thin, as if barely any is getting through. I suspect it might be a deviated septum, given how common that is in my family...

I also seem to deal with constant congestion all year round, which leads to this persistent coughing—not to mention my struggles with seasonal allergies...

I didn't actually make it to my workout sessions, but instead...
Whenever I’d finally lay down to get some sleep, I would find myself having to tightly close my mouth and focus entirely on breathing through my nose for a few seconds, and then I’d have to switch back to my mouth because, honestly, I had this terrifying sensation like I was actually going to suffocate.
That went on for quite a while, I guess, until eventually, it just sort of resolved itself, and now breathing through my nose isn't even an issue anymore, even when I'm dealing with a nasty head cold.