Reading time: 2 minutes – Spotted on Gizmodo
On TikTok, many videos now extol the merits of “mouth taping”, the practice of applying adhesive tape to your mouth before going to sleep – and keeping it on all night. Nothing to do with BDSM: users who recommend this strange routine claim that it will help everyone who adopts it feel fresher when they wake up, in every sense of the word.
Gizmodo looked into this new trend, which is supposed to prevent snoring, improve the quality of sleep and allow you to have better breath when you wake up. The question is simple: what does the science say about mouth taping, which is said to even help with sleep apnea?
For the record, sleep apnea – a phenomenon which causes certain individuals to have their breathing cut off when they sleep – has the effect of breaking up their breathing, since the brain reacts to the lack of air by waking them up to force them to start again. their breath. There are two types: obstructive apnea, or obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAS), which occurs when the muscles of the airways block breathing, and central apnea, where it is the brain who forgets to signal to the body that it must breathe.
Mixed results
This is the first form that mouth taping is supposed to be able to stop, at least if we are to believe the Internet users who promote it. When sleeping, people with OSAHS tend to breathe through their mouth to compensate for the obstruction in their airways. However, it is often the opposite effect that is obtained, in particular because the tongue tends to fall towards the back of the mouth and block the air outlet. On paper, the application of adhesive tape should therefore force individuals to breathe through their noses whatever the cost.
Proof that the practice is not new, Gizmodo got its hands on the results of a study dating from 2015, which explains that people using “porous oral patches” (so not quite the commercial adhesive tape) actually saw their snoring decrease and their episodes of sleep apnea become rarer. Other work, dating from 2022, shows that 65% of people with a moderate form of OSAHS had seen improvements thanks to this type of practice.
The problem is that the two scientific studies in question were carried out on samples that were too small to draw definitive conclusions. Another concern: the 2015 study also shows that a third of patch users saw their sleep apnea worsen. Gizmodo also cites other research that indicates that despite the tape, many people still try to breathe through their mouth – which can ultimately lead to asphyxiation.
As for breath, no scientific research has yet been carried out on the effects of this practice on it, but it is doubtful that keeping your mouth closed for six to twelve can have positive effects. It would undoubtedly be like the equivalent of a damp and insufficiently ventilated room; but science will undoubtedly have its say on this in a few months or a few years, if the trend of “mouth taping” continues and it becomes essential to study its possible benefits and risks.
