Breathing is something we do all day, every day. The average human takes 12 to 16 breaths per minute, which means that in all likelihood you’ve taken a breath or two since the time you started reading this, without even noticing. Now, think back and ask yourself this question: Did I take those breaths through my nose or my mouth?
Noses are for breathing and mouths are for eating — it’s the way the human body functions optimally. So if your answer to the above question was “nose,” congratulations! You are experiencing the many benefits that come along with nasal breathing. If your response to yourself was “mouth,” that means you are going to need some help – and mouth taping is the best place to start, particularly when sleeping.
While, as humans, we can make a conscious effort to keep our mouths closed during the day, we lose that ability when we are sleeping, resulting in an array of discomforts and health problems. Keep reading to learn about the advantages of nighttime nasal breathing and how mouth taping can help you achieve it.
- Mouth Taping Leads to Better Sleep
Mouth taping for sleep may seem like a strange strategy to some, however, getting a good night’s rest is critical to your wellbeing. While you sleep, your body recovers, your memories are consolidated and toxins are flushed from your system. When you nose breathe while sleeping, your body is able to achieve a relaxation response, which is the key to maintaining deep sleep and successfully progressing through the stages of the sleep cycle. This is because the nose helps us maintain homeostasis by balancing the autonomic nervous system, protecting us from stress, anxiety, and sleeplessness, so you can wake up feeling strong and refreshed (without your usual morning coffee!).
- Mouth Taping Improves Oral Health
Start mouth taping at night and say goodbye to those all-too-frequent painful and costly dental procedures. One of the biggest benefits of nasal breathing is that it helps to prevent oral health problems. Mouth breathing quickly dries out your mouth, decreasing saliva production. Saliva is critical to washing away bacteria in our mouths and for neutralizing acid. Without it, the odds of incurring tooth decay and cavities increase. Additionally, dry mouth is one of the leading causes of gum disease, which can lead to other health issues such as heart disease. Keep your smile big and bright by mouth taping!
- Mouth Taping Stops Snoring
Is your significant other constantly complaining that your mouth snoring habit keeps them up at night? Put a stop to it by mouth taping and let your partner sleep in peace. During sleep, the muscles in and around your mouth relax, causing your mouth to fall open. This results in your respiratory airway closing and ultimately causes the “mouth snores” that you may be unfortunately all too familiar with. And mouth snoring isn’t just bothersome — it can also impact your health. It is often a precursor to sleep apnea, which is a serious sleep disorder that can lead to cardiovascular and cognitive disorders. Solve this annoying, and potentially dangerous, problem by mouth taping while you sleep. It can also be helpful to do some tongue exercises during the day to strengthen your mouth muscles and train them to keep the airway open while you snooze.
- Mouth Taping Bolsters Immunity
Think of mouth taping as your favorite baseball team adding a fourth player to their outfield alignment. Sure, the ball may still find a hole and get through, but the chances of it being caught are higher than they were with a traditional three man outfield. Mouth taping provides your immune system with an extra layer of defence, as nose breathing gives your body its best chance at standing strong against disease and infection. The nose is our only organ that has the ability to “filter” the air we breathe, which contains lots of bad bacteria. Our noses produce nitric oxide, a vasodilating (widening of blood vessels) gas that kills bacteria in airborne particles, saving us from ingesting it.
By using mouth tape, you’ll also decrease your chance of catching a cold; the mucous membrane, which is responsible for killing germs, lines your nose and extends all the way down to the bronchi, directly entering your lungs. So if you are nose breathing at night thanks to mouth tape, when germs enter your nostrils they’ll get caught in the mucus and die, potentially saving you from days of sneezing, shivering and a runny nose.
- Mouth Taping Helps Lower Blood Pressure
Have you ever been told to take deep breaths when you are feeling stressed or anxious? That’s because our breathing is closely tied to our blood pressure. According to the CDC, one out of every three Americans has high blood pressure. Having high blood pressure puts you at risk of heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States. Mouth taping while you sleep is one way to help control your blood pressure; the increased nitric oxide production that comes along with nose breathing reduces blood pressure by expanding your blood vessels and increasing the ability to transport oxygen throughout your body. In contrast, mouth breathing has actually been associated with high blood pressure, as it may result in low oxygen concentration in the blood.
- Mouth Taping Brings Better Mornings
We’ve already discussed how nose mouth taping leads to a better sleep, but there are even more reasons why you’ll wake up feeling fantastic. Does your throat sometimes feel like sandpaper when you get out of bed in the morning? Or do you often wake up with a sinus headache? Mouth taping reduces discomforts caused by mouth breathing such as dry mouth, sore throat, chapped lips, and nasal congestion. By nose breathing at night, you can start your day off on the right foot, and skip that Starbucks drive-thru.
How to Safely and Successfully Mouth Tape
Mouth taping can definitely seem a bit dangerous at first – and it certainly has the potential to be if done incorrectly. Using duct tape, packing tape, or any other adhesive that is not intended to be worn on skin is a big no-no (and do you really want to tear that off your lips? Ouch!). That’s why we’ve worked for years to develop a safe and effective mouth taping product.
I found a few sellers on Ebay and Amazon putting ‘mouth tape’ into the search bar.
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