How the breathing system works?

Are you breathing right now? Of course, you are! If not I’m concerned…but do you ever stop and marvel at the complexity of our ability to breathe oxygen in and then release carbon dioxide?

Breathing is something we take for granted but maybe it’s time to give some appreciation to our body for keeping us alive through its intricate process of inhalation and exhalation.

So let’s dive deeper, no pun intended, into understanding how the respiratory system works!

Overview

Before we jump into how this whole breath thing comes together, let’s understand what we’re actually working with. The respiratory system consists of a series of organs responsible for taking in oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide.

These organs include:

  • Nose
  • Mouth
  • Throat
  • Larynx
  • Trachea
  • Bronchi
  • Lungs

Each organ has its own role to play, so without further ado let’s figure out exactly what those roles are!

Nasal Cavity

This cavity isn’t simply a room where boogers hang out. It humidifies incoming air by adding moisture (gross—we know)and warms it up before it reaches your lungs.

Take a tense situation – why does your nose get runny when it happens? That would be your nasal mucosa resisting that hot head energy by slathering everything with more gunk than necessary. So next time someone gets all worked up consider telling them they should blow their nose instead…

Pharynx

The pharynx is divided up into three parts:

  1. Nasopharynx: located behind the nasal cavity.
  2. Oropharynx: located behind the mouth.
  3. Laryngopharynx: tube linking larnyx with esophagus which connects stomach.where big surprises happen!(if ‘The Lion King’ taught us anything)

These three sections are responsible for guiding food and fluid to your esophagus, a suspicious organ that’s responsible for getting all our worldly indulgences down to their motherland.

Larynx

The larynx, or voice box, is where we generate sound. It’s also the part of the respiratory system known by most as “that bump in my throat” or simply —the Adam’s apple (or Eve’s berry?).

But true story: The reason males have more prominent Adams apples than women is due to testosterone impactation during puberty.

Trachea

The trachea is often referred to as the “windpipe”. A pipe carrying wind—what could go wrong?

Incredibly sturdy but flexible enough so it doesn’t snap like a twig, this tube allows air into and out of your lungs. It does this with its special highway—complete with cartilage-derived rings! How very Lord of the Rings-esque.

As long as there isn’t something seriously wrong with you—you can always rely on breathing through your trusty trachea.

Down To The Bronchi And Alveoli

We’ve covered how things happen up until now—but what happens when that …air… gets inside?

When entering through the bronchi; smaller tubes branching off from the trachea—the previously warm air enters an avante garde structure known as ‘the alveoli’.

By definition—not too complex right? However…

Each lung sports around 300 million alveoli per filling station filled with capillaries(like tiny bean bags)—where oxygen passes into blood vessels while CO2 makes its exit. Suffice it to say—that’s just amazing that they’re holding such microscopic cities-sized clusters!

So next time you inhale deeply…ya know what? Scratch that idea entirely—as going extremely deep has been linked anteriorly rather negatively towards chest pains.

Breathing: Inhale Vs Exhale

Moving right along to the central question— what’s the difference between inhaling and exhaling?

Inhalation

When we inhale, our body expands in various ways. It occurs when contractions from your inspirational muscle ‘diaphragm’ causes negative pressure that pulls air cavarging into lungs.

In other words, it’s like a Hoover vacuum for air. The muscles around your ribs contract quickly with equal sharpness as if taking a quick jab at something or someone then voila—you’ve taken another breath!

Exhalation

Exhalation is pretty much opposite of inhalation but using basically same process—just letting all captured incoming gross-ness out by relaxing the diaphragm then contraction of both internal/external intercostal muscles squeezing leftovers/stagnant just leaving an empty space ready for…

Take A Breath And Smile!

Breathless writing…perhaps that was too wherewithal(hey! our obscure word count); so let’s take some time here to really appreciate how extraordinary breathing is.

It may be repetitive and automatic—but there’s no denying its importance towards staying alive. So yes while you might find yourself holding your breath during tense moments (we know we’re guilty), give thanks to this remarkable respiratory system working hard behind-the-scenes—keeping oxygen flowing rapidly through each interconnected part; why shouldn’t it have these deserved props?

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