These are the safer alternatives to mouth taping, according to experts

Ultimately, none of this hype around mouth taping can tell us anything reliable about its health effects. We spoke to Dr Annabel Nickol, a consultant in respiratory medicine who leads the Sleep and Ventilation service at Oxford University Hospitals, and Professor Vik Veer, head of sleep surgery at the Royal National ENT Hospital, to get their expert takes.

Does mouth taping work?

You can find endless anecdotal accounts of mouth taping’s health benefits on social media. However, its effectiveness is not well supported by scientific evidence.

“Mouth taping is an interesting idea but we don’t have science and data to say it works,” says Annabel.

“There are publications about mouth-taping that are interesting but which have been based on small sample sizes of people and would be considered low-quality because the participants are not randomised.

“Even in these cases, the impact of the intervention is small,” she adds.

Annabel points to a preliminary study into the impact of mouth-taping in mouth-breathers with mild obstructive sleep apnoea as typical of the existing research into mouth taping.

“The subjects were studied with mouths taped or not taped,” she says.

“The incidence of apnoea or snoring events was low before taping – about 8.3 per hour – and that went down to 4.7 per hour when mouth tape was used. However, that might just have been because the subjects had their mouths taped, so they didn’t sleep well. I’m not rubbishing the study but there were factors that could’ve confounded the findings.”

Not only are the health outcomes of mouth taping shakily established, some online sources misrepresent its basic function.

“You might have seen posts on social media claiming that mouth taping increases the amount of oxygen in your system but it doesn’t really do that,” says Vik.

“Above all, what it does is make you breathe through your nose during sleep.

“Breathing through your nose slowly increases the carbon dioxide in your system, which makes the body slightly more acidic. This causes the nose and lungs to open up, shrinking some of the nasal passages (called turbinates) that can swell up due to allergies or illnesses like the common cold.”

Is mouth taping dangerous?

Based on our interviews with medical professionals we would not encourage anyone to take up mouth taping. The practice is potentially unsafe and there are better-established, trusted treatments that can deliver the intended benefits of mouth taping.

“Mouth taping is not necessarily safe,” advises Annabel.

“Covering the airway could be dangerous if for some reason you can’t breathe through your nose during sleep. If you vomited that would be really dangerous.”

According to Vik the risks could be greater for people who have certain common nasal conditions.

“Mouth taping is potentially unsafe because difficulty breathing through the nose can stem from factors such as a deviated septum – where bones and cartilage are twisted – or nasal polyps,” he says.

“If one of these issues is present you’ll really struggle to breathe nasally with your mouth taped.”

Here’s what you should be doing instead of mouth taping

One of the most commonly promoted benefits of mouth taping is a reduction in snoring and sleep apnoea. It’s important to understand what causes these conditions and which established treatments are available.

“When we go to sleep our muscles relax, including the airway,” Annabel explains.

“The airway muscles narrow and vibrate, and when the airway closes this pauses breathing. Sleep lightens, we make a big effort to breathe and this can wake us up.

“We are all on a spectrum of airway obstruction, from snoring a little to sleep apnoea. People with significant sleep apnoea are massively impacted, with daytime sleepiness, grumpiness and impaired cognition. It can impact their work, wellbeing and relationships.”

For Annabel the solution to sleep apnoea doesn’t start on TikTok but with assessment by a medical professional.

“If you have symptoms of obstructive sleep apnoea you would need to go to a sleep specialist with a referral from your GP and use measures that are proven to work,” she says.

“One thing to think about if you have obstructive sleep apnoea or snoring is weight loss.”

Being overweight or obese can worsen snoring or sleep apnoea due to the build-up of body fat in the neck, which can naturally constrict the airway. Following a weight-loss diet or doing more exercise could prove a far better solution than mouth taping, providing wide-ranging health benefits.

In some cases, sleep apnoea does require medical intervention.

“The best remedy is a CPAP (continuous positive air pressure) machine which gently puffs air up the nose and keeps the airway open,” says Annabel.

“Another option is mandibular advancement, which is done with a device that goes into the mouth, pulls the lower jaw forward relative to the upper jaw and opens the airway. This is proven to work in high-quality trials with randomised participants.”

Vik generally does not recommend mouth taping but he believes it might be useful as a short-term measure for patients who have recently had a procedure such as correction of a deviated septum.

“Mouth taping could potentially help people in this situation readapt to breathing through their nose during sleep,” he says.

“Generally, it’s very hard to get back into the habit of doing this if you’ve been breathing through your mouth previously.

“It often takes about six weeks of mouth taping (or using a chin strap or cervical collar which is slightly safer) to rehabituate to breathing through your nose again during sleep. After this 'training' period you can ditch the tape and sleep without all these aids.”

Another purported benefit of mouth taping is reducing the problem of bad breath. Some simpler solutions to this complaint include staying hydrated and keeping on top of your oral hygiene.

Concerned about sleep apnoea? Find comprehensive information via the Sleep Apnoea Trust.

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