Tried it myself: mouth taping!
Lately, there has been quite a lot of buzz highlighting the unlikely benefits of taping your mouth while sleeping. Belgian newspaper De Morgen, Dutch RTL News, Linda.nl and Sleepfoundation, among others, wrote about its impact on your sleep. Enough for Mindthebed. com to also pay attention to the phenomenon of “mouth taping during sleep.
Why is sleeping with a taped mouth off better?
Taping the mouth while sleeping is primarily intended to improve breathing during sleep. After all, when you sleep, you don’t control the way you breathe. By taping off your mouth during sleep, you are being forced breathing through the nose.
Taping your mouth while sleeping can help with:
- Reducing snoring
- Reducing phlegm in the throat
- Stopping unconscious thumbing in children
Sleeping with mouth tape: my own experience
Let me start by writing that it feels pretty exciting. I know that I usually breathe through my nose during the night. Not because I lie awake, but because I consciously notice it in the morning. To fall sleep easier, I have noticed that nasal breathing brings more peace. But OK, covering your mouth by applying tape is obviously not the same thing.
The routine for sleeping with oral tape is as follows:
- Get completely ready for sleep first
- Apply the mouth tape when you are in bed
- Try to go to sleep immediately with the mouth tape
- Remove oral tape if you experience health symptoms
First sensation: anxious!
Sleeping with a taped mouth feels quite oppressive. I lay in the dark, ready to sleep, and adrenaline gushed through my veins. Tension because there is a tape sticking over my lips. And because I pay such attention to it, it feels quite anxious. What if my nose clogs up during the night or I get too deep under the sheets?
I don’t find peace right away. And after a relatively short time, I also have to take the tape off. I feel like I’m going to hyperventilate. My head is pounding and I feel like I can’t breathe deeply enough. My partner sighs and doesn’t like it either, but my experiment has to be finished anyway.
Second attempt: vertical strip over the mouth
I settle down for a moment and then decide to apply a vertical tape. This way I can still breathe a little through the corners of my mouth. That immediately feels a lot better. I even fall asleep. In the middle of the night I wake up and for a moment panic arises in my head because I cannot open my mouth. Oops, already forgot there was still tape on it. I decide to take the tape off and fall asleep again after a while.
Upon awakening, I again notice that I am clearly breathing through my nose. So should I use such a strip to sleep? Well after one night, a few moments of panic and some stress to fall asleep, I decide it’s not for me. Much to do about nothing… something like that?
Admittedly, it was a very short test, though. And don’t get me wrong at all, because the benefits of nasal breathing are real. I, too, consciously seek nasal breathing when I find it difficult to fall asleep. I find that it makes me calmer and more relaxed.
However, for me it will be sleeping without mouth tape. I prefer to have the extra breathing capacity. It makes me feel more free. So sleeping with mouth tape is not for me.
Conclusion mouth taping sleep: it works! But it’s nothing to me!
Consciously paying attention to my breathing when I go to sleep works better for me than covering my mouth with tape. And especially feels a lot less threatening to me. If you can stay calm and quiet, a mouth tape will work quite well. And especially if you snore, your partner will notice the difference.
| Mouth completely glued shut during sleep | Frightening, feeling that I can’t breathe enough |
| Mouth vertically taped during sleep | A better result, breathing through the corners of the mouth |
| Mouth not taped during sleep | For me the best way |
During our research, we stumbled upon additional interesting reasons to tape your mouth. Thus, your breath would be fresher and and your mouth less dry. That does seem far-fetched to me. In practice, you brush your teeth before you go to sleep and this is also on the program in the morning. With reasons! And also, when you breathe through your nose you have dry lips. Sometimes they even seem to stick together. And that’s without tape!
Be sure to let us know how you fare when you apply or start applying this? We look forward to hearing about your experiences!
Is taping your mouth dangerous?
Covering your mouth can be hazardous to your health. If something doesn’t feel right, stop taping the mouth immediately. Oxygen intake or carbon dioxide secretion may deteriorate.
Why should you tape your mouth?
Sleeping with a patch or piece of tape on the mouth can improve breathing. This is because you force your body to breathe through the nose while sleeping. Taping your mouth can also help against snoring.
How do I know if I sleep with an open mouth?
You can tell by some symptoms that you sleep with your mouth open at night. For example, you may have a dry mouth in the morning, or a sore throat and bad breath.
