Though the benefits of nasal breathing are well established, mouth taping is not something breathing experts here recommend as a first fix for sleep. Photo / Getty Images
Though the benefits of nasal breathing are well established, mouth taping is not something breathing experts here recommend as a first fix for sleep. Photo / Getty Images
It’s all over TikTok: people applying small pieces of surgical tape to their lips – literally taping their mouths closed – before going to sleep.
The theory is that this will force breathing through the nose, and encourage a deeper, more restful (and less snory) sleep.
The social media mouthtapers claim all manner of benefits, from clearer skin to improved facial contours. But breathing experts say there’s no evidence for these claims.
What little research has been done on mouth taping has been in people with mild obstructive sleep apnoea and has shown some improvement in snoring.
Though the benefits of nasal breathing are well established, mouth taping is not something breathing experts here recommend as a first fix for sleep.
Breathing expert Tania Clifton-Smith says she’d always take a step back and ask why someone isn’t able to breathe through their nose at night. There can be many reasons, some of which are serious.
“Is it because the nose is occluded or you’ve got inflamed tissue? It pays to check this out with your health professional,” she says.
“Not everyone is just a habitual mouth breather and all they need to do is shut their mouth and then it gets better. There is a group of people who literally have tonsil overgrowth and adenoid growth where they can’t actually use their nose.
“So, if you tape their mouth, you’re just traumatising them. They’ll basically wake up in a panic, feeling like they’re suffocating. And there will be a real reason for that.”
Both Peirce and Clifton-Smith will use mouth taping with patients in some circumstances. But, they say, it’s a last resort.
“I do use it,” says Peirce. “But it’s after you’ve done all the muscle strengthening, after you’ve built co-ordination and after you’ve been assessed by an ENT [ear, nose and throat] surgeon. It’s the absolute last thing I’d try. Caution is warranted.”
Those looking for better breathing at night could try nasal rinsing or a nasal strip to open up the nasal passages before they pick up a roll of tape.
