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Some people claim taping your mouth shut helps you sleep better—but what are the risks? (www.nationalgeographic.com)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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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.

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[–] BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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)

[–] scytale@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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.