The Risks and Reality of Mouth Taping for Sleep

Having your mouth taped shut is the stuff of nightmares — but some people are doing just that to themselves. And in an attempt to sleep better, no less.

Some on social media say it’s a hack for getting more and better sleep and to reduce snoring. The claims — which are not backed by science — are taking off on places like TikTok, sometimes pushed by people working for companies selling related products.

“The studies behind mouth tape are small, the benefits are modest and the potential risks are there,” said Dr. Kimberly Hutchison, a neurologist and sleep medicine expert at Oregon Health & Science University. Some of those risks include making sleep disorders like sleep apnea worse, or even causing suffocation.

Mouth breathing in adults is not a major health problem, but it is better to breath through your nose, experts say. Your nose is a natural filtering system, trapping dust and other allergens before they can get to your lungs.

If you’re breathing with your mouth open at night, you could wake up with a dry mouth and irritated throat, which can contribute to bad breath and oral health problems. Mouth breathing is also associated with more snoring.

But even though breathing through your nose is better than breathing through your mouth, taping your mouth shut isn’t the best way to fix the issue.

There’s no strong evidence it helps improve sleep. A few studies have been conducted, most of which showed little or no impact, but they were so small experts say conclusions should not be drawn from them.

And meanwhile, there are the potential dangers to be avoided.

Dr. David Schulman, a sleep doctor at Emory University, said there are other things to try, like prescription mouth pieces that can open up your airway, or a CPAP machine. If you’re a smoker or are overweight, for example, quitting smoking and losing weight can help.

The safest approach is to figure out why exactly you are breathing with your mouth, because there could be something else going on.

You may be breathing through your mouth because you have obstructive sleep apnea, a sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep because of a blocked airway. The disorder is linked to both open mouth breathing and snoring, and is typically treated with a CPAP machine.

“The reason sleep apnea can be bad is that any decrease in the quality of sleep can affect you day to day or over the course of your life,” said Dr. Brian Chen, a sleep doctor at the Cleveland Clinic. “Depending on how bad the sleep is, you may just feel sleep deprived or require more sleep.”

The best thing to do, Emory’s Shulman says, is get a sleep test, some of which can be done at home. “It’s always better to know than not know,” he said. “And if you know that something’s going on and you choose not to pursue therapy, at least you know you’re making an educated decision.”