Does Taping Your Mouth Shut Help You Sleep?
8:00 minutes
If you frequent the wellness world on social media, you may have seen a trend popular with influencers: using adhesive tape to seal one’s mouth shut while sleeping. This is intended to help the sleeper breathe through their nose all night, which people claim has a slew of benefits including improved quality of sleep, reduced sleep apnea, a more defined jawline, and a brightened complexion.
But should you add mouth taping to your nighttime routine? According to Dr. Linda Lee, physician and surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, you should be evaluated by a professional first.
“A lot of people actually cannot breathe through their nose,” Dr. Lee says. “They either have a deviated septum, or they have allergies, and so if your body is actually opening its mouth to allow more oxygen, forcing it closed is not the right thing to do.”
Dr. Lee joins Host Flora Lichtman to talk about the right way to start nose breathing, what the scientific literature says (and doesn’t say) about mouth taping, and how social media is changing the information patients seek from their physicians.
Further Reading
- Read more about why mouth taping could be dangerous via CNN.
- Peruse a selection of scientific articles covering the research behind mouth taping via the NIH.
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Segment Guests
Linda Lee
Dr. Linda Lee is a physician and surgeon at Massachusetts Eye and Ear in Boston, Massachusetts.
Segment Transcript
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Meet the Producers and Host
About Kathleen Davis
Kathleen Davis is a producer and fill-in host at Science Friday, which means she spends her weeks researching, writing, editing, and sometimes talking into a microphone. She’s always eager to talk about freshwater lakes and Coney Island diners.
About Flora Lichtman
Flora Lichtman is a host of Science Friday. In a previous life, she lived on a research ship where apertivi were served on the top deck, hoisted there via pulley by the ship’s chef.