What is it?

Yawning is an act of opening the mouth and breathing deeply which is usually triggered by sleepiness, boredom, seeing others yawn, or talking about it. The exact cause for yawning isn’t well understood yet. There is a condition that’s called excessive yawning when someone yawns more than once in one minute. Excessive yawning may be caused due to an underlying medical condition, such as sleep disorders, side effects of medications, bleeding in or around the heart, brain tumor, heart attack, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and liver failure. Diagnosis is based upon findings from medical history and physical examination. Further evaluation may include EEG and a brain MRI. Treatment depends on the underlying cause and may include stopping taking a certain drug, using breathing devices during sleep, exercising, keeping sleep hygiene, antiepileptic drugs and more.