A TikTok trend of taping your mouth shut at bedtime to enforce nasal breathing is gaining traction in Ireland, but experts say evidence of the benefits is lacking.
Videos of the practice, favoured by celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Julia Bradbury and Erling Haaland, have gained more than 38.5 million views on TikTok. It involves placing a strip of skin-friendly tape over or around the lips to help keep them shut while sleeping. However, despite its popularity, trials and studies on its benefits are limited.
Ken O’Halloran, a professor of physiology at University College Cork, said nasal breathing helped to filter and warm air “so that by the time that air hits the lower airways and into the lungs, it’s conditioned”.
“During the daytime at rest, we can breathe easily through our nose — there’s no major impediment,” he said. “At night what happens when you go to sleep is that the muscles in your neck and in your jaw become relaxed, especially when we dream. That postural change in bed during sleep can result in mouth breathing.”
O’Halloran said that while he could see some logic in claims of benefits, the practice should be medically supervised and researched due to suffocation risks. “If you are restricted to breathing through your nose and your nose becomes occluded, you effectively would be acutely suffocating,” he said.
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Tom Coleman, a sleep expert and health scientist, said he wanted to see more evidence of mouth tape benefits, but there was a “compelling” case. “There have been small trials that show mouth taping can help alleviate snoring,” he said.
“When we’re breathing through our nose we’re exhaling less carbon dioxide. Our nose is often calmer as well, it keeps us in that parasympathetic state; so it can help lower stress and anxiety, while also increasing nitric oxide levels.”
Mary-Claire Fitzpatrick, a TV presenter and comedian from Co Laois, began using mouth tape last year. “I did it religiously at the start but I’ve fallen off it lately [as] I can’t seem to get decent mouth tape that stays on all night,” she said. “So I’m still a mouth breather, unfortunately.
“I went down a rabbit hole one night looking at videos about it and its impact on cardiovascular health, dental health and even the shape of your jaw being affected by mouth breathing, so I said I’d give it a try.”
Patrick McKeown, an expert on breathing and sleep, launched MyoTape in 2020. The product is meant to encourage lip closure while sleeping without covering the mouth. McKeown claims it can aid mental and dental health, cut snoring and improve sleep apnea.
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“Nasal breathing will improve the quality of sleep and reduce anxiety and it is also going to improve concentration,” he said. “Fifty per cent of the adult population, according to our observations, wake up with a dry mouth ... Mouth breathing affects dental health, because there’s reduced saliva and as a result the person is more prone to gum disease, dental cavities and bad breath.”
