What Is Mouth Taping for Snoring, and Is It Safe?
Key takeaways:
Mouth breathing has some negative side effects, like dry mouth, bad breath, and poor sleep.
Mouth taping aims to avoid those downsides and prevent snoring by forcing you to breathe out of your nose while you sleep.
There’s no strong evidence to suggest that mouth taping stops snoring. Plus, mouth taping may not be safe if you have undiagnosed sleep apnea or you don’t breathe well through your nose.
If you snore, you may be able to lessen snoring with lifestyle changes, like sleeping on your side. But it's best to connect with a healthcare professional to figure out why you snore in the first place.
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If you’re looking for home snoring remedies, you’ve likely come across the idea of mouth taping. This is about as simple as it sounds — taping your mouth shut while you sleep to force you to breathe through your nose. And there’s been quite a bit of buzz about it in different media outlets.
The people promoting mouth taping claim that it reduces or stops snoring and improves other health problems like bad breath and fatigue. But, as tempting as it may sound, mouth taping can be dangerous, especially if you have certain health conditions.
What is mouth taping?
The idea that mouth breathing when you sleep can have harmful effects has been around for centuries. While you can do your best to breathe through your nose while you're awake, it’s pretty challenging to control how you breathe while you sleep. This is where the idea of mouth taping comes into play.
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Over the past years, mouth taping became a viral trend. You don’t have to look far to find a social media influencer who shows you how to put tape over your lips before you sleep. Videos with the hashtag #MouthTaping have millions of views on the popular social media platform TikTok. Some TikTokers claim that mouth taping helps them stop snoring and can even reshape their jawline.
Some believe mouth taping stems from the Buteyko breathing technique, which promotes nose breathing to manage asthma and improve health.
What does mouth taping do?
The purpose of mouth taping is to prevent you from breathing through your mouth while sleeping. By forcibly keeping your mouth closed, you breathe in and out through your nose instead.
Since people who snore usually breathe through their mouths, people claim that mouth taping will stop snoring and relieve other problems related to mouth breathing, such as dry mouth, bad breath, and poor sleep quality. But mouth taping can be risky.
Is mouth taping safe?
Taping your mouth shut to force nose breathing at night won’t address the underlying issues that lead to snoring. In fact, mouth taping can lead to serious risks like:
Restricted airway
Worsened sleep apnea
Sleep disruption
Skin irritation or rash from the tape
Health benefits of diaphragmatic breathing: Also called belly breathing, this is a type of breathing that encourages slow, deep breaths.
How to stop snoring: Snoring is common, and it can really throw off your sleep. Here are some ways to stop snoring.
What is box breathing? Box breathing is a technique to control your breath. Learn about its possible benefits, from stress relief to improved focus and sleep.
For example, if your nose is obstructed because of a health problem, your body will automatically switch to mouth breathing to give you the oxygen you need. By taping your mouth closed, you block your only working air passage and won’t get enough oxygen.
Mouth taping is especially dangerous if you have medical conditions that cause breathing problems like:
Enlarged tonsils
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Snoring can be a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea, which is when you stop breathing briefly many times during sleep. This condition disrupts your sleep and deprives your body of the oxygen it needs, leading to serious health issues like heart problems and even death.
Let’s say you decide to mouth tape to stop snoring. If it turns out that your snoring is due to undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea, you can make your situation worse by restricting airflow.
Does mouth taping work?
There’s limited research on mouth taping. And since it can be harmful, experts don’t recommend it.
A small 2022 study showed that mouth taping could be helpful for people who’re mouth breathers and have mild sleep apnea. But, in another study, 36 people with asthma who taped their mouths at night reported no change in their condition.
If you’re curious about trying mouth taping, consider practicing breathing through your nose while you’re awake. There are lots of breathing techniques and exercises you can try.
But talk with a healthcare professional before trying mouth taping while you sleep. They may recommend that you do a polysomnography (sleep study) to better understand your breathing and sleeping habits.
Snoring and mouth breathing are likely caused by an underlying health condition. The key is to find the cause of your snoring. Finding the root cause of your snoring will help you and your provider find the right treatment.
You might learn that you have a medical condition, like obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea needs professional treatment. And forcing your mouth closed with mouth taping will likely make it worse.
Why does nose breathing help sleep?
There are two ways to breathe: through the nose or the mouth. Your nose is designed to process the air you breathe by:
Filtering debris and microbes
Keeping the air you breathe moist
Warming up the air that goes to your lungs
Certain medical conditions, like allergies or a sinus infection, can cause congestion — inflammation of the mucous membrane inside your nose. When your nose is congested, you breathe through your mouth. And if you’re exercising vigorously, you may need to breathe through your mouth to take in more oxygen.
But constantly breathing through the mouth, including when sleeping, can cause problems like:
Children who are mouth breathers can develop changes in the shape of their nose, mouth, and palate. This can lead to teeth crowding.
What are the best ways to address snoring?
Let’s face it, it’s hard to ignore a snoring partner. Snoring can be downright irritating. If you’re looking for how to stop snoring and get better sleep, consider these bedtime adjustments and lifestyle changes:
Pay attention to your sleeping position. You’re more likely to snore if you sleep on your back. That’s because lying on your back causes the muscles in your throat to relax and partly block your airway. Try sleeping on your side or raising the head of your bed.
Avoid alcohol in the evening. Alcohol is a muscle relaxant. Drinking alcohol several hours before bedtime can relax the muscles around your throat, causing them to collapse and shrink your airway during sleep. Avoiding alcohol before bed may help you stop snoring.
Beware of medications you take at bedtime. Many people who take sedatives tend to do so at night to prevent daytime drowsiness. Like alcohol, sedatives relax your throat muscles and can make snoring worse. If you take sedatives before bed, talk with a healthcare professional about alternatives.
Treat nasal congestion. Allergies, a cold, or an infection can cause swelling in your nasal airways and prevent air from flowing freely. This forces you to breathe through your mouth, potentially leading to snoring. Consider trying an over-the-counter nasal spray to help relieve congestion. A humidifier may help too.
Try nasal dilators. A nasal-dilating strip that you put on the outside of your nose can help increase how much air goes into your nose. You may also try an internal nasal dilator. It works similarly but goes inside your nose. Both are effective at reducing snoring.
The bottom line
If you sleep near someone who snores or you snore yourself, you’ve likely considered ways to stop it. There are lots of claims about the benefits of mouth taping. But there’s not enough evidence to support the benefits of this viral trend, and it can be extremely dangerous if you have undiagnosed sleep apnea.
If you want to stop snoring or get better sleep, try making lifestyle changes and visit a healthcare professional before taping your mouth shut while you sleep.
Why trust our experts?
References
Buteyko Breathing Association. (n.d.). What is the Buteyko breathing technique?
Cooper, S., et al. (2009). Effect of mouth taping at night on asthma control — A randomised single-blind crossover study. Respiratory Medicine.
Ellegård, E. (2006). Mechanical nasal alar dilators. Rhinology.
Freeman, S. C., et al. (2022). Physiology, nasal. StatPearls.
Jefferson, Y. (2010). Mouth breathing: Adverse effects on facial growth, health, academics, and behavior. General Dentistry.
LaMotte, S. (2022). A TikTok trend about mouth taping while you sleep can be dangerous. CNN.
Lee, Y., et al. (2022). The impact of mouth-taping in mouth-breathers with mild obstructive sleep apnea: A preliminary study. Healthcare.
TikTok. (n.d.). #Mouthtaping.
