In an attempt to achieve better sleep and reduce snoring, some people are taping their mouths shut.
But doctors have advised against it.
The claims, which are not backed by science, are taking off on places like TikTok, sometimes pushed by people working for companies selling related products.
“The studies behind mouth tape are small, the benefits are modest, and the potential risks are there,” said Dr Kimberly Hutchison, a neurologist and sleep medicine expert at Oregon Health and Science University.
Some of those risks include making sleep disorders like sleep apnea worse or even causing suffocation.
It is better to breathe through your nose most of the time
Mouth breathing in adults is not a major health problem, but it is better to breathe through your nose, experts say.
Your nose is a natural filtering system, trapping dust and other allergens before they can get to your lungs.
If you’re breathing with your mouth open at night, you could wake up with a dry mouth and irritated throat, which can contribute to bad breath and oral health problems.
Mouth breathing is also associated with more snoring.
Don’t rush to use mouth tape
But even though breathing through your nose is better than breathing through your mouth, taping your mouth shut isn’t the best way to fix the issue.
There’s no strong evidence that it helps improve sleep. A few studies have been conducted, most of which showed little or no impact, but they were so small that experts say conclusions should not be drawn from them. Meanwhile, there are potential dangers to be avoided.
Dr David Schulman, a sleep doctor at Emory University, said there are other things to try, like prescription mouthpieces that can open up your airway, or a CPAP machine. If you’re a smoker or are overweight, for example, quitting smoking and losing weight can help.
Mouth breathing could be a sign of something serious, so find out
The safest approach is to figure out why exactly you are breathing with your mouth, because there could be something else going on.
You may be breathing through your mouth because you have obstructive sleep apnoea, a sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep because of a blocked airway.
The disorder is linked to both open-mouth breathing and snoring, and is typically treated with a CPAP machine.
“The reason sleep apnea can be bad is that any decrease in the quality of sleep can affect you day to day or over the course of your life,” said Dr Brian Chen, a sleep doctor at the Cleveland Clinic. “Depending on how bad the sleep is, you may just feel sleep deprived or require more sleep.”
The best thing to do, Emory’s Shulman says, is to get a sleep test, some of which can be done at home.
“It’s always better to know than not know,” he said. “And if you know that something’s going on and you choose not to pursue therapy, at least you know you’re making an educated decision.”
