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

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months 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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[–] scytale@lemm.ee 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Thanks! I actually do not have any issues and was just considering it to combat my occasional light snoring when my neck and head are positioned in a certain angle that I breathe more through my mouth. I do get the slight congestion on one nostril that you described where turning to the other side relieves it. The article does say the risks are for people who already have issues in the first place. But yeah, with the slight congestion I sometimes have, I’m still not risking having only one nostril to breathe through the entire night.

[–] voracitude@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

Well that's good news indeed! You can see if the strips might help with the snoring you do experience by performing "Cottle's Maneuver": https://www.ashfordclinic.com/blog/what-is-cottle-s-maneuver

You can try it when one side of your nose gets blocked too, to see if the steps would alleviate that as well, if you don't do that already. I've used it my whole life and didn't know it was a "thing" until my ENT showed me it and named it.