The popular trend claims that taping can reduce dry mouth, prevent snoring, and help you stay asleep, but there are safety concerns.

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According to a 2023 survey of 2,005 adults who had recently tried sleep trends, more than one in 10 people had tried mouth taping. People admit to trying the trend to stop snoring, reduce mouth breathing, and for some—to change their face shape. Some videos on the social platform claim that mouth taping improves the jawline and reduces the appearance of a double chin.

Despite the online popularity of the sleep trend, the medical evidence to support this practice is scant, says Indira Gurubhagavatula, professor of medicine at Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Instead, mouth taping may actually cause health problems.

  • edric@lemm.eeEnglish
    20·
    2 months ago

    Article is sign-up walled. Can anyone post the potential health problems? I’ve been considering this because I noticed it does help stop snoring if my mouth is closed because it forces me to breathe through my nose.

    Edit: Huh, why all the downvotes? I’m just asking if anyone can paste the potential health problems stated in the article because it’s asking you to sign up just to read it.

      • TheDoozer@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        2 months ago

        I’ll second a sleep study. I’ve used a CPAP for 15 years, and after a few weeks I couldn’t sleep without it.

        I try to describe the difference to people by referencing the matrix. You know the weird, green-tinged, fake quality of the world prior to Neo waking up in his little pod? And then on the ship everything was just more real? That’s what the transition was like after a week of CPAP. I realized it wasn’t a normal thing to start nodding off at long stop lights, or have my mind uncontrollably drift away even during one-on-one, face-to-face conversations.

        I should say, though, I’m a moderate-to-severe case, and when I asked about surgery, the sleep doctor looked at me and said, “maxillo-mandibular advancement (shatter jaw and move it forward), septoplasty (nose surgery for deviated septum), and tonsillectomy. So surgeries.” Probably will do that, while I’m still in the military, but that I’m willing to suffer all that should tell you how not-fun CPAP is. But it’s considerably better than nothing.

        And as it relates to this article, when I was initially trying nasal pillows (cpap mask that just attaches to the nostrils), my mouth kept being forced open, even with a strap holding my jaw closed. My sleep doctor suggested taping my mouth shut, and that was a hard no from me. With the deviated septum, I only ever have one nostril open, and if I got a cold, I’d rather not wake up unable to breathe from ANY opening until I could get the tape off.

      • edric@lemm.eeEnglish
        3·
        2 months ago

        Thanks! I actually do not have any issues and was just considering it to combat my occasional light snoring when my neck and head are positioned in a certain angle that I breathe more through my mouth. I do get the slight congestion on one nostril that you described where turning to the other side relieves it. The article does say the risks are for people who already have issues in the first place. But yeah, with the slight congestion I sometimes have, I’m still not risking having only one nostril to breathe through the entire night.

    • BakedCatboy@lemmy.mlEnglish
      4·
      2 months ago

      https://archive.ph/20240913210359/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/mouth-tape-sleeping-hygiene-hacks-social-media

      Potential health problems of mouth breathing or taping to combat mouth breathing? From my reading it sounds like if you have any kind of respiratory condition - asthma, sleep apnea, even allergies then it could be risky.

      (I can rarely get congested to the point of not being able to get enough air through my nose in the middle of the night without warning so I feel like I could suffocate if I tried this, plus most nights I’m able to nose breathe most of the time anyway)

      • edric@lemm.eeEnglish
        2·
        2 months ago

        Thanks! Yeah, sounds like it can be an issue if you already have existing sleeping or breathing issues. I personally don’t have any of that and was just thinking about it to combat my occasional light snoring. Still not doing it though because I do sometimes get congestion (one nostril at a time) and completely shutting off the mouth will definitely make it harder to breathe.