Getting a sleep study will identify what’s causing your snoring and rule out sleep apnea. If you snore regularly and it’s so loud it’s affecting a partner, visit a sleep medicine doctor, says Lauri Leadley, founder, president, and clinical sleep educator at Valley Sleep Center. Anatomy that decreases the size of airways.Nasal congestion and inflammation from a cold or allergies. Pregnancy, which may cause inflammation in the nose.Excess body fat that puts extra pressure on soft tissues.Alcohol or other sedatives that relax muscles.Some things can block airflow, which makes snoring worse, like: This creates rattling, snorting, or grumbling sounds. When airflow is restricted, the soft palate, tonsils, adenoids, and tongue vibrate against each other as air is forced out. People snore when air can’t easily flow through their mouth or nose, according to the Cleveland Clinic. In this situation, the taping is done under medical supervision. The tape is used to reduce air leakage from the machine and improve its efficacy, Dimitriu says. The only way mouth taping is useful is for sleep apnea patients being treated with a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine. Another downside is that the tape could irritate or damage the skin. A 2022 study published in Sleep & Breathing showed that people tried to mouth breath even when their mouths were taped, which interfered with their sleep.Įven if mouth taping could potentially reduce instances of snoring, it doesn’t treat the cause of snoring, Weiss emphasizes. A small study published in 2014 found that 30 people snored less after mouth taping, and other research on 36 patients with asthma found no signs that mouth taping improved their condition. “Snoring or gasping for air during sleep is a defense mechanism to open the airways and increase oxygen levels,” she says. Long term, low brain oxygen can increase the risk for stroke, cardiovascular disorders, and type 2 diabetes. Sleep apnea is caused by an obstruction in the upper airways, which limits air intake and leads to low oxygen levels in the brain, says Carleara Weiss, Ph.D., sleep science adviser at Aeroflow Sleep. Mouth taping can restrict airflow, and it’s an especially bad idea if you don’t breathe well through your nose or if you suspect you have sleep apnea, which comes with symptoms like snoring loudly, waking up often, and being sleepy during the day, Dimitriu says. “Often, nasal congestion gets worse when lying flat.” Is mouth taping safe? “People tend to mouth-breathe because their noses are congested” from a cold, sinus infection, allergies, deviated septum, or enlarged tonsils or adenoids, says Alex Dimitriu, MD, who’s double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine and BrainfoodMD. People breathe through their mouths as a backup when they’re unable to breathe properly through their noses. Mouth breathing can cause a dry mouth, bad breath, and sore throat. Regulate the temperature of your breath.Breathing through your nose is more beneficial than breathing through your mouth, according to the Cleveland Clinic. TikTokkers have used everything from duct tape to medical tape and suggest that the process forces people to breathe through their nose and avoid the side effects of mouth breathing. Mouth taping simply refers to taping your mouth shut right before you fall asleep. But before we explain why that’s so, let’s back up a second and look at what mouth taping is, and why people are doing it. With snoring so common-it’s estimated that 57 percent of men and 40 percent of women snore-you’re likely looking for a remedy. But sleep experts say this approach is harmful. The trend suggests that mouth taping can help people breathe better and snore less. Turns out some people are taping themselves, according to some viral TikTok #mouthtaping videos, which have been viewed more than 33 million times. When a third of Americans don’t consistently get enough sleep, a snoring partner can be so frustrating that you might be tempted to tape their mouth shut. The grumbling, snorting sounds reverberate through your bedroom, causing you to toss and turn, wake up through the night, and maybe even worry that your bedmate has stopped breathing.
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