General Medical Information

Nasal Airway Resistance

Thomas V. Mccaffrey

Resistance of the nasal airway accounts for more than 50% of total airway resistance. Although humans can breathe through the nose, mouth, or both, breathing during rest is mainly through the nose. The usual reasons given for the preference of nasal breathing are (a) improved humidification and warming of inspired air, (b) improved filtering of particulate matter in the inspired air, and (c) smoothing the pattern of respiration by nasal resistance. The nasal airway can be divided into three distinct regions, each with a different mechanism for the physiologic control of nasal resistance. These regions are the nasal vestibule, the nasal valve, and the nasal cavum.