Can taping your mouth shut improve your sleep? New study reveals

Time of India

4 days ago

If you've spent any time doom-scrolling through Instagram reels or TikTok videos lately, you've probably seen the latest addition to the "morning shed" routine: face masks, eye patches—and a curious strip of tape over the mouth.
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This tape isn't just for aesthetics or silence; it's part of a trend that claims to fix everything from snoring and bad breath to sleep apnea and jawline definition. It's called mouth taping, and while influencers are all in, doctors aren't convinced.
What is mouth taping?
The trend is called mouth taping—literally sealing your mouth shut with a special porous medical tape before bed. While the tape is all the hype, we can't be sure.
A team of doctors and researchers from the London Health Sciences Center and the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine recently
10 of the most relevant studies on mouth taping. In total, the studies involved 213 patients and aimed to evaluate whether this viral trend is actually effective—or even safe.
Each study focused on people dealing with issues like obstructive sleep apnea, nasal obstruction, or habitual mouth breathing during sleep.
Most of these studies were carried out in clinical settings or sleep labs, where patients were monitored overnight.
What did they find out?
Out of the ten studies, only two showed noticeable improvements in patients with mild sleep apnea. These improvements were measured through metrics like the apnea-hypopnea index—which tracks the number of times a person's breathing stops or slows during sleep—and oxygen levels in the blood.
But here's the catch: the rest of the
didn't show any meaningful benefit.
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In fact, some pointed to potential risks, especially for people who have nasal blockages. 'Other studies showed that mouth taping offered no differences and even discussed potential risks including asphyxiation in the presence of nasal obstruction,' the authors wrote.
It's a serious warning. If you rely on mouth breathing because of something like a sinus infection, a deviated septum, or nasal polyps, forcing your mouth shut can actually make things worse.
Taping over the problem doesn't solve the cause—and can delay proper medical treatment.
And here's another thing to consider: the researchers noted that all 10 studies they reviewed were of low quality. That includes poor follow-up, unclear methods, small or non-representative groups, and failure to account for other variables that could affect results. In short, we don't have strong science to support the hype.
Still, the researchers acknowledged one small potential benefit: 'There does seem to be a very specific use-case scenario, in patient populations where obstructive sleep apnea is mild, that mouth taping or occlusion may improve [measures of apnea severity],' the team noted.
But for most people—especially those with moderate to severe apnea, or those who can't breathe well through their nose—mouth taping is unlikely to do much good.
In fact, it may be dangerous.
The bottom line? If your sleep is suffering, or if your partner's snoring sounds like a chainsaw at 2 AM, it's time to skip the hacks and see a doctor. Viral trends might make good content—but when it comes to your breathing, science should always come first.