Why do some people who are cute when they are young and ugly when they grow up?
First show you this photo:
When I was 10 years old, I was very handsome, and when I was 17 years old, my appearance plummeted.
Why is this change happening? The answer may surprise you: open your mouth and breathe.
Let me make an analogy. The way of breathing is to people what sunlight is to trees. If a tree receives sunlight in only one direction, then the trunk and branches will grow towards the light source, and the tree will be permanently deformed.
The child's face is also like this, if you open your mouth to breathe for a long time instead of breathing with your nose, then the various structures of the mouth and face will slowly change, and finally affect the appearance.
This change in appearance is called "adenoidal face", because the appearance will appear to be very long, so it is also called "long face syndrome".
The question is, why do children open their mouths to breathe?
Because the nose is blocked. Any disease that causes the nose to not breathe is the cause of breathing openly. The most common disease in children is adenoidal hypertrophy.
Adenoids — the red part of the image above — are small pieces of lymphoid tissue located between the upper respiratory tract, the nose, and the back of the throat. Like the tonsils, adenoids are part of the lymphatic system and prevent bacteria from entering the body through the nose and mouth.
If the adenoids are too large, it will be very laborious to breathe through the nose, and the air will not go in, which will force the child to open his mouth to breathe, including sleeping.
At this time, it is like there is a heavy object hanging on the chin, your facial muscles and jaw joints are pulled downwards, and over time, the face will quietly change. There are many other causes of nasal congestion in children, such as allergic rhinitis is also common.
In short, if you find your child sleeping with his mouth open, or even snoring, be careful. Take your child to the OTOL department of a regular hospital to see a doctor earlier.
Sleep consultation
Text: Yu Zhouwei
Photo: Daquan