If you want quality shut-eye, consider taping your mouth shut? At least that’s what some popular wellness influencers, including Gwyneth Paltrow, are claiming on social media.
But medical experts say mouth taping for sleep is a trend that comes with some life-threatening drawbacks. Here's what to know about mouth taping.
Mouth tape for sleeping
Mouth taping for sleep involves placing a porous tape over both lips so you can’t open your mouth at night, according to the Sleep Foundation.
One of the first TikTok videos espousing the benefits of practice, which has since racked up millions of views, was posted in 2021 by health coach Cory Rodriguez. In the video, he places an adhesive over his lips — special strips designed for open-mouth snorers, but he noted that “gentle paper medical tape” works just as well.
“The goal is to breathe through your nose while you’re asleep versus your mouth,” Rodriguez explained, which can, in theory, improve sleep.
That's because humans are meant to be nose breathers, Dr. James Mojica, clinical director of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells TODAY.com.
Noses humidify the air and filter debris before it can get into your lungs, and they boost your oxygen uptake. Breathing through your nose can also reduce allergy symptoms, lower blood pressure and help with anxiety. Breathing through your mouth, on the other hand, has been linked to sleep disorders, bad breath, gum disease and misalignment of the teeth.
Mouth taping benefits
The primary benefit of mouth taping, according to social media users, is better sleep, though experts caution the practice can be unsafe and there's no scientific data proving that it works.
Rodriguez said in his video supposed benefits include:
- Improved oral hygiene
- Better slumber
- Reduced dry mouth
- Less snoring.
Busy mom of three Chance Culp said on the TODAY show that she’s taped her mouth every night since she tried it for the first time because it helped her sleep “like a baby. I stayed asleep all night long. ... I’ve not skipped a night.”
Another mom of three Lindsey Polidore has felt a "huge difference" in the quality of her sleep since trying the trend four months ago, she said on TODAY. "I noticed that I just have a much deeper sleep. I wake up a lot more rested. I do credit mouth taping to becoming more of a morning person so I can wake up now at 5:45 without feeling exhausted."
Does mouth taping actually help?
Mouth taping has not been formally studied and is not an approved therapy, but Mojica compares the practice to nasal strips, which are marketed as a tool to open the nasal passages.
“I have had patients swear that with nasal strips, their snoring went away,” he says. “Then we do a sleep study, and it shows that there’s no difference whatsoever.”
If you’re breathing through your mouth at night, Mojica warns that taping it shut is not the solution: “You want to figure out why you’re mouth breathing. ... You want to find the source of the snoring.
One possible cause is sleep apnea, which happens when a person’s upper airway becomes blocked repeatedly during sleep, reducing or completely stopping airflows, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. It can be related to obesity, heart or kidney failure, endocrine disorders and other serious conditions.
A deviated septum, a nasal polyp, allergies or asthma could also be causing you to mouth breathe, Mojica says.
Is mouth taping dangerous?
Because of the lack of research, mouth taping isn't recommended, Dr. Marri Horvat, a sleep specialist at Cleveland Clinic, said on the TODAY show.
Plus, "there's a lot of risks to it," she added. "If your airway’s already obstructed through your nasal passage and now you take away the only area that you can actually get air through, it can cause a lot of problems."
Side effects of mouth taping
Side effects of mouth taping can range from mild to dangerous, stemming from a lack of oxygen due to the airway being blocked, Horvat said.
These include:
- Irritation around the mouth
- Disrupted sleep
- Difficulty breathing
- Cardiac arrest
- Arrhythmia (abnormal heart beat)
- Seizures
How to reduce mouth breathing at night
To reduce mouth breathing at night, Dr. Megan Acho, pulmonologist and sleep specialist at University of Michigan Health, recommends paying attention to your sleep position and what you're drinking before bedtime.
“Mouth breathing and snoring can be worsened by things like sleeping on your back and drinking alcohol," she says.
Multiple experts also stress the importance of talking to a doctor before trying mouth taping because if you're struggling with sleep, it may be a bigger problem than how you're breathing. And it's extra important to get help if you have sleep apnea symptoms, such as excessive sleepiness during the day, waking up feeling like you're choking or gasping, or frequent headaches in the morning.