Social media fad of mouth taping during sleep may pose severe risks: Researchers

Do you follow the social media trend of taping mouth while sleeping to help breathe from the nose instead of mouth? Beware, it could pose serious asphyxiation risks.

Asphyxiation is a condition where oxygen is deficient in the body, often leading to impaired breathing or suffocation.

When the nasal passages are blocked, breathing switches from the nose to the mouth. Mouth breathing has been linked to sleep-disordered breathing, which includes conditions ranging from snoring to obstructive sleep apnoea, where breathing stops and starts frequently during sleep.

However, a recent trend amplified by social media has some people taping their mouths shut at night to treat sleep-disordered breathing by preventing mouth breathing.

Mouth taping has been recommended by many social media influencers and celebrities who claim it can lead to better sleep, enhanced oral health, and anti-ageing results.

“Our research shows that taping the mouth shut during sleep is dangerous, especially among those who may not be aware they have sleep apnoea,” said Dr. Brian Rotenberg, an otolaryngologist and sleep surgeon at Western University, UK.

“These individuals are unknowingly making their symptoms worse and putting themselves at greater risk for serious health complications like heart disease,” he added.

The researchers evaluated 10 previously published studies to evaluate the potential benefits of sealing the mouth shut — using tape or other devices, such as chin straps — for a total of 213 patients.

The practice “can make existing sleep-disordered breathing worse by restricting airflow, putting additional stress on the respiratory system, and increasing the risk of suffocation when patients experience a nasal obstruction” the team said, in the paper, published in the journal PLOS One.

Out of the 10 studies, two suggested that among a subset of people with mild obstructive sleep apnoea, mouth taping may be associated with some slight improvement in a standard measure of sleep apnoea severity. However, other studies found no evidence that mouth taping might help treat mouth breathing, sleep-disordered breathing, or sleep apnoea.

Four of the 10 studies included a discussion of a potentially serious risk of asphyxiation posed by sealing the mouth shut during sleep for people whose mouth breathing is caused by serious restriction or blockage of nasal airways.

Serious nasal obstruction could result from conditions such as hay fever, chronic rhinitis, deviated septum, sinonasal disease, or enlarged tonsils.

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