The pros and cons of mouth taping for sleep

Mouth taping has become an internet star even though science has yet to prove its benefit — and has shown it can do harm. (CNN via CNN Newsource)

Taping your mouth shut for sleep has gone mainstream. Spurred on by celebrity endorsements and social media influencers, it’s now a billion-dollar industry. On TikTok, for example, the endorsements are widespread.

One influencer claims mouth tape is the “beauty tip of life” that has changed the appearance of her face and jaw for the better.

Another TikToker assures her followers that using mouth tape is “not a placebo effect — I’ve slept so much better since using this,” while someone else insists mouth tapers will “wake up more energized,” adding that “it helps with anxiety, and … if you snore, it helps with, like, not snoring.”

One woman couldn’t even recall why she started taping her mouth for sleep: “Truth be told, I don’t know. I saw a TikTok about it, and I can’t remember what the benefits were. But it helps me stay asleep!”

Mouth taping has become an internet star even though science has yet to prove its benefit — and has shown it can do harm.

“The purported benefits that are being touted for this — improving apnea, improving snoring, making your nose look better, making your jaw look better — it just doesn’t come out in the wash that that actually is what’s happening,” said sleep specialist Dr. Brian Rotenberg, professor of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery at Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry in London, Ontario.

The risks of mouth taping

If you’re one of the roughly 30 million Americans with sleep apnea, mouth taping could seriously restrict airflow, thus depriving your brain and body of critically needed oxygen, according to experts.

Sleep apnea is a dangerous condition in which people stop breathing for up to a minute multiple times an hour. In severe cases, people stop breathing hundreds of times each night.

About 23.5 million of those who have sleep apnea in the US are undiagnosed, according to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Yet the condition can lead to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, depression and even premature death if left untreated.

A recent analysis by Rotenberg and his colleagues found taping or sealing the mouth closed or strapping the chin to keep the mouth closed “could pose a serious risk of asphyxiation in the presence of nasal obstruction or regurgitation.”

Nasal obstructions can make it difficult to breathe through the nose as well, so reaching for mouth tape without first checking with a sleep specialist is unwise, experts say.

“There’s so many other reasons we can’t breathe through our nose — deviated septum, nasal polyps, even in some cases, nasal tumors can happen,” Rotenberg said.

“A large number of people would rather turn to Instagram or TikTok or other sources of information rather than their physician or nurse practitioner to actually make a diagnosis.”

Mouth tape is useless without proper breathing

The goal for most mouth tape aficionados is to breathe through the nose, which experts say is healthier. Fine hairs in your nose called cilia filter out dust, allergens, germs and environmental debris.

Nose breathing also moisturizes incoming air, while dry air breathed in through the mouth can irritate the lungs, said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine, pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine at Huntington Health in Pasadena, California.

“Nasal breathing may lower blood pressure by increasing nitric oxide, a compound in your body that can be helpful for keeping your blood pressure under control,” Dasgupta said.

In addition, breathing through the nose is relaxing, which is why it is often recommended, along with yoga and meditation, as a way to promote sleep.

Mouth tapers won’t experience these benefits, however, unless they first learn to properly place their tongue in the mouth, said Ann Kearney, a speech language pathologist at Stanford University School of Medicine.

“It’s a little frustrating for me when people just think they can tape their mouth shut and that’s it — that’s not the point,” Kearney said. “The tongue has to be up and in the forward position or you’re not going to get the benefits of the nasal breathing.”

To do that, put the tip of your tongue directly behind your front teeth and then relax the tongue along the upper palate of your mouth and keep it there, she said. Another way to explain it: Try to say the word “the,” but don’t remove your tongue from your teeth. Then relax the tongue along the top of the mouth.

If the tongue isn’t moved up and forward, “the base of tongue is back in the airway, which causes more of an obstruction,” Kearney said. “But when you get it up and forward, it opens that airway and allows for easier nasal breathing.”

If you do decide to use mouth tape — after you’re checked out by a doctor, of course — you need only a 2-inch piece of thin medical-grade tape, she said.

“I’ve heard crazy things on social media where people are using duct tape or taking the big piece of tape and really covering their mouth,” Kearney said. “It’s not necessary.”