Allergies and conditions like sinusitis, chronic congestion or structural issues in the nose may be the reason behind difficulty breathing through your nose, she explains. “If you struggle or find it uncomfortable to breathe through your nose or can hear yourself breathing through your nose throughout the day, you should not try it and instead get evaluated by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor,” Kearney says. Not everyone should attempt mouth taping. Always consult your doctor before experimenting with mouth taping, particularly if you have any existing breathing or sleep apnoea-related health conditions. “We ought to take the limited research on mouth taping with a pinch of salt,” says Bostock, “and understand that this may not be effective for everybody.” The risks of mouth tapingĮxperts have warned that DIY mouth taping can be dangerous for people with obstructive sleep apnoea. Yet despite hypotheses that mouth taping may benefit asthma control, a separate small study found it had no effect in patients with symptomatic asthma. “A few trials have examined whether it can help alleviate snoring in people with pre-existing sleep conditions, but we know little about whether the tape can benefit the general public,” Kearney concedes, adding that this is precisely the motivation for her own research.Ī small 2022 study looked at mouth taping at night and found it improved snoring and the severity of sleep apnoea – interrupted breathing at night – in mouth breathers with mild obstructive sleep apnoea. Mouth taping is claimed to help prevent nighttime waking and help us wake feeling more rested (Photo: Maria Korneeva/Getty)ĭespite its popularity, mouth taping is a modern phenomenon which has not been extensively studied, meaning that many of the purported benefits remain unproven – and there may be risks for some people (see below).
SHUT UP YOUR MOUTH CRACKED
Not only can it make you feel groggy and less than refreshed, it can also contribute to tooth decay, bad breath, a croaky voice and dry, cracked lips. Meanwhile, if you regularly wake with dry mouth, it’s probably because you slept with your mouth open, Kearney says. Nose breathing also stimulates the release of nitric oxide, points out sleep expert Dr Sophie Bostock, “which helps to dilate blood vessels next to the airway.” This may help to boost blood flow around the body. “Slower, deeper breathing, moisture control and temperature control makes for a better and efficient system, while poorly regulated breathing is associated with anxiety disorders, depression and hypertension ,” she adds. This is because it promotes “long, slow exhalation with low, fuller inhalation”, activating the parasympathetic nervous system, she says. This “optimisation” in the exchange of gases helps to maintain body temperature and filter out bacteria.Īnyone familiar with meditative practices will know that breathing through your nose can have a calming effect.
Nasal breathing allows for filtering and humidification of air through the mucous membrane and cilia which line the nose. Think of the nose as the “heating, ventilation, and air conditioning of our respiratory system,” Kearney says. Both authors are evangelical about the benefits of mouth taping for deeper sleep. The benefits of nose breathing were popularised by Ukrainian doctor Konstantin Pavlovich Buteyko in the 50s, but much of the current focus on mouth taping is thanks to two popular books: Patrick McKeown’s The Oxygen Advantage, and James Nestor’s Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. The tape is just a technique to get you there – one that she herself used to help her switch from being a lifelong mouth breather to a 24/7 nose breather. “To be clear, the goal is to be a nose breather, not a mouth tape user,” explains Dr Ann Kearney, who researches laryngology and sleep surgery at Stanford University. But are any of these backed up by science? And what are the risks? The benefits of nose breathing The (mostly anecdotal) claims about the benefits are wide-reaching, spanning everything from improved oral hygiene and therefore a healthier oral microbiota, to regulating blood pressure, improving sports endurance and even enhancing immune function.
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