Mouth taping for sleep entails inserting a chunk of tape throughout your lips earlier than you go to mattress at night time so that you simply bodily can’t breathe by means of your mouth when you sleep (and should nostril breathe). Though there haven’t been many research on the follow itself, the advantages of respiration by means of the nostril whereas sleeping are plentiful, which is main some physicians to suggest mouth taping at night time, with a number of precautionary measures.
Why is it more healthy to breathe by means of your nostril as a substitute of your mouth?
Respiratory (and smelling, which we do by means of respiration) is the one motive to have a nostril. The mouth exists for talking and consuming along with its capability for respiration. Because of this, optimum respiration occurs by means of the nostril, not the mouth. “Mouth respiration bypasses the features of the nostril, which embrace filtering the air we breathe for particles [like allergens and pollution], humidification, and bringing the temperature of the air to physique temperature earlier than it enters the lungs,” says Raj TerKonda, MD, FACS, otolaryngologist, facial plastic surgeon, and sleep specialist.
“Mouth respiration bypasses the features of the nostril, which embrace warming, humidifying, and filtering the air we breathe.” —Raj TerKonda, MD, FACS, otolaryngologist
With this heat, moist air from the nostril, the throat and lungs can operate higher than they’ll with cooler, drier air from the mouth. Actually, analysis has proven that those that mouth breathe have lower rates of brain oxygenation—as a result of their lungs can’t soak up the oxygen from the air they’re respiration as successfully—and should even experience less cognitive activity than their nose-breathing counterparts. In contrast, nasal respiration helps “maximize absorption of oxygen from the air you breathe and minimizes irritation in your throat and lungs, all of which might additionally assist enhance your sleep high quality,” says sleep specialist Angela Holliday-Bell, MD.
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For a lot the identical motive (that’s, inhaling hotter, moister air), nasal respiration at night time can moreover scale back your danger of a dry mouth and sore throat upon waking up. “A drier mouth from mouth respiration may lower the pH in the mouth increasing your risk for cavities and tooth decay,” says dentist Matthew Asaro, DDS, who additionally recommends the choice of nasal respiration for that motive. To not point out, the shortage of saliva manufacturing prompted by mouth respiration can allow for more bacteria buildup within the mouth, leaving you all of the extra prone to wake up with a bad case of morning breath, too.
Properly earlier than that time, the closed-mouth place of nasal respiration may be uniquely helpful at night time by means of its skill to reduce snoring. “Throughout sleep, with nasal respiration, the tongue and taste bud are much less prone to fall again and impede the airway,” says Dr. TerKonda. Because of this, you’re not solely much less prone to snore, however you possibly can additionally expertise fewer interruptions in your respiration (aka apneas) throughout sleep, resulting in improved sleep high quality and fewer stress on the physique, he provides.
Is mouth taping for sleep a good suggestion?
Clearly, nostril respiration is the medically superior alternative over mouth respiration at night time. However, is forcing your self to nostril breathe by inserting tape in your mouth a clever thought? The reply: “It relies upon.”
If you happen to don’t have a sleep problem and you observed your mouth respiration at night time is only a operate of a foul behavior, it might be price attempting mouth taping to enhance your sleep. A small 2015 study of open-mouth sleepers with gentle obstructive sleep apnea discovered that “porous oral patches” (aka porous tape over the mouth) lessened the depth and frequency of loud night breathing and apneas. And ostensibly, these adjustments got here by means of rising nasal (over mouth) respiration—which, as famous above, comes with its personal well being advantages for sleep and past.
That stated, for some of us who mouth breathe at night time, the conduct is an indication of some obstruction limiting their skill to nostril breathe, says Dr. Holliday-Bell, “like congestion from allergic reactions or an sickness, or an airway obstruction from situations like enlarged tonsils or adenoids—aka lymph tissue within the higher airway—or a deviated septum.”
In every situation, merely placing a chunk of tape over your mouth gained’t resolve the problem inflicting you to mouth breathe at night time within the first place; it can simply make respiration harder. (Think about taping your mouth shut whenever you nostril is so stuffy that you may’t breathe by means of it correctly.) As a substitute, it’s good to search therapy for the nasal obstruction, both by means of medicine or a process carried out by an ENT surgeon, says Dr. TerKonda.
The best way to safely follow mouth taping for sleep at night time
If you happen to don’t have a sleep situation or any form of obstruction stopping you from having the ability to breathe simply by means of your nostril, and also you resolve to attempt mouth taping at night time with clearance out of your physician, Dr. Holliday-Bell suggests utilizing a chunk of porous medical tape oriented vertically throughout the higher and decrease lips. It’s additionally price noting that you need to solely use a small piece—the scale of a postage stamp, says Dr. TerKonda—to soundly seal the lips (with out locking them shut).
Moreover, Dr. Holliday-Bell says to keep away from inserting the tape over any hair or open wounds to reduce irritation with removing. “If you happen to discover that you simply’re having any problem respiration or anxiousness whereas sporting the tape, you need to take away the tape instantly and seek the advice of along with your medical supplier,” she says.
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