Miracle cure or not a good idea?
The mouth taping trend is intended to ensure better sleep
© さしみ（sashimi） / Adobe Stock
Anyone who tapes their mouth shut at night is said to sleep better. Is this trend healthy or even dangerous? We took a closer look at mouth taping.
Stars like that do it Gwyneth Paltrow and Erling Haaland – then it must be good. Caution! It’s actually not that easy with the mouth taping trend. Because it is not always healthy to tape your mouth shut at night.
Why do people tape their mouths shut at night?
Mouth taping is intended to ensure that you no longer breathe through your mouth, but only through your nose. This is said to have many benefits: from better sleep and less snoring to firmer skin and less bad breath. In addition, the nasal mucous membranes should be able to filter bacteria better than is the case when breathing through the mouth, so, among other things, colds can be better prevented.
There are several possible reasons why increased mouth breathing occurs. If your nose is blocked due to a cold or allergy, you are more likely to breathe through your mouth. Crooked nasal walls or enlarged tonsils can also be reasons. And many will be familiar with this during exercise: If there is an increased need for oxygen, we try to compensate for this by breathing through the mouth.
3 signs you breathe through your mouth a lot
Are you wondering if you breathe through your mouth a lot? You can check this with three symptoms:
- You often have your mouth open, even during the day
- Your lips are cracked and dry, the corners of your mouth are sore
- You eat with your mouth open and smack your lips
If there is increased mouth breathing, this can lead to, among other things, more frequent infections, sleep disorders, difficulty concentrating and oral problems such as bad breath or an increased risk of tooth decay.
And then mouth taping is supposed to help?
To counteract this and breathe through the nose at night, when we cannot actively pay attention to how we take in air, more and more people are covering their mouths with adhesive tape, tape or a plaster. Is mouth taping a miracle cure or not a good idea?
A 2022 study found that mouth taping can reduce snoring by half – but only 20 test subjects took part. This study is by no means generally valid. If you want to tape your mouth shut at night, you should definitely not do it like that. Although we would reflexively wake up before we suffocate, anyone who already has problems with nasal breathing due to a cold or crooked nasal walls will definitely not be able to achieve a more restful sleep through mouth taping. Experts warn that problems such as sleep apnea can even be made worse by this technology.
Unconsulted mouth taping at night is therefore strongly discouraged – alternatives such as a special mouthpiece should only be used if prescribed by a doctor. If you breathe a lot through your mouth, you should consciously practice nasal breathing every day. Above all, a long exhalation is healthy because the heart is relieved and the nervous system is calmed.
Sources used: mdpi.com, apotheken-umschau.de, praxisvita.de, tiktok.com