NYT Article on Mouth Taping -- Scam or Not?

[Lucid]

The New York Times has an ongoing health column entitled "Scam or Not," in which they interview experts about popular health trends.  Today's topic was mouth taping -- consider yourself officially trendy if you mouth tape.   

The article was not about mouth taping as an adjunct to CPAP, but many of the commenters were CPAPers.

The article describes a benefit of nasal breathing that I had not heard about before:

"When you breathe through your nose, your sinuses naturally produce a gas called nitric oxide. As nitric oxide flows from the nasal sinuses to the lungs and into the blood, it can help lower blood pressure, said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a pulmonary and sleep medicine specialist at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. The gas can widen blood vessels, he said, potentially also improving blood flow."

The bottom line was that existing studies on mouth taping are limited, so benefits are not yet proven.  

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/17/well/...=share-url

[Rich66]

Since I have lung issues and complex sleep apnea I've looked into information of this kind. My learning is that the gas helps the lungs to absorb the oxygen. Also, breathing through the nose compresses the oxygen which delivers more air to the lungs. Every doctor I've seen has stressed that it's important to breathe through the nose -- and if heavy breathing, exhaust through pursed lips. My issue isn't mouth breathing, it's mouth exhaling. When the machine pushes air (BIPAP machine) my lungs don't take it and it comes out my mouth. So the tape helps to block that exit point and for the machine to give me proper therapy. I've also double layered the tape to help improve it's performance, since it's rated "air permeable".
I have had the power go off while taped and masked -- I awoke no problem and removed the mask. A friend of mine has been a mouth breather all his life and he has terrible teeth (even the three he has left are terrible).

[mesenteria]

Thanks for posting, Lucid.  I'll place that information close behind the reason I have to tape, and that's...well.....I have to. 

Right from Night #2 on PAP therapy. The previous night I maybe got a total of three hours of sleep, but I kept waking due to the torrent of air emerging from my parted lips (I use a nasal mask, the N20).  It's nice to know that it might actually be advantageous in another capacity.

[YipeekiOH]

I’ve benefitted greatly from mouth taping and will continue to use it forever. Without it I probably would have failed CPAP therapy since i absolutely deplore full-face masks and what it did to the skin on my face. Between Bleep and nasal cushions I sleep extremely well 95% of the time.

I don’t believe it to be a scam and recall reading something recently about some individuals promoting mouth taping on TikToc.

[Nightynite]

I believe in mouth tape . I never thought I needed to do this until I just tried in once. The results where very positive and I continue to do in every night. The slightest mouth leak can lead to a disruption in sleep in my case.

[Lucid]

Hi, Rich66, mesenteria, YipeekiOH, and nightynite -- great observations!

I started scrolling through the thousands of #mouthtaping posts on Instagram and found this interesting Wall Street Journal article from August:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/snoring-mou...1660844766

[cberistain]

mouth taping: what happens when you have to cough or sneeze when using mouth tape? I tried taping a few times but was always worried about coughing, so I switched back to the chin strap ( as a lessor of evils)

[mesenteria]

A most reasonable question.  My history:

Can't recall a cold bad enough that I had to forego PAP altogether since commencing therapy in late 2017;

Have had to panic-rip my tape only twice, and not in the past almost three years.  Both times were within 20 minutes of what should have been my awakening (anyway), but my nostrils were both plugged.  The rest should be obvious.   A side-benefit of the first experience was that I learned to fold over a tiny tab on one end so that I didn't have to claw at my mouth...like I had to the first time   ; and

As for coughing and sneezing, I have yet to have them come up while I'm on PAP. Honestly.  My big and persistent problem is that I'm an incorrigible 'swallower'...meaning I gulp and swallow a lot. If I get aerophagia, it's not so much my PAP machine but the fact that I swallow air.  Before I can settle down and fall asleep, I must burp before putting on the mask, or I'll have to sit up and try to burp against my PAP's flow...which isn't as easy as one might suppose.  Put it this way, you'd better have clear eustachian tubes.

If I ever had to sneeze, I don't have such a tight fit that I can't partly displace my nasal mask and achieve what I must.  Nobody should have such a tight fit that he/she can't somewhat easily displace their face/nose mask.

[YipeekiOH]

I’ve never sneezed but cough a few times at least 2-3 times a week. My coughs are small and mainly for throat clearing. Never had any type of panic situation requiring immediate removal. That being said, when I suggested tape use to one of my friends who uses CPAP, she told me she tried it once and when she got sick to her stomach managed to rip it off just in the nick of time. She now uses a chin strap that isn’t as nearly effective as tape which she acknowledges but is a little apprehensive about using it again.

To me tape use has its pros and cons. I have never used a chin strap as it seems a bit barbaric whereby to other mouth tape seems that way.

I use Griff Grips, Cover-Roll or medical grade silicone tape.

[Deborah K.]

I have been mouth-taping successfully for a long while, including through my bout with Covid.  It is possible to cough with the tape on.  I just sort of cough INTO my mouth, not through my mouth.  Sounds nutty, but it works for me.