• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Full Site List
  • Camping
  • Outdoors
  • Gardening
  • Preparedness
  • Rural Living
  • About Harold

Self Reliant Living

Rural Living for less than $2,000 a month

Sleep apnea, mouth breathing bad; taping worse

by Harold Carey Jr

Search for “mouth breathing” on social media and you’ll find a tidal wave of content about the dire health consequences, including receding chin and gum disease. The solution, according to thousands of TikTok videos, is mouth taping — literally taping your lips together before you go to sleep each night to encourage nasal breathing. But according to Healthline, mouth taping isn’t just unproven — it’s potentially dangerous.


Mouth breathing does carry some potential health risks, including snoring, dry mouth, bad breath and increased risk of obstructive sleep apnea, according to CNN. Over time, mouth breathing can contribute to serious health issues like hypertension and heart problems.
While social media is full of mouth taping enthusiasts, there’s no clinical evidence to suggest that it works. In one small study, researchers found that when mouth breathers taped their mouths closed, they simply puffed air through the sides of their mouths instead as they slept.
According to Healthline, experts warn that mouth taping can obstruct breathing, make sleep apnea worse, and cause irritation and allergic reactions. It can actually disrupt sleep instead of improve it.
The Cleveland Clinic recommends that people with sleep difficulties should avoid unproven remedies and see their doctors to treat the underlying problems instead. While many people find relief with simple fixes like side sleeping or better bedtime routines, conditions like sleep apnea or deviated septums usually require further treatment.

Filed Under: Health

Primary Sidebar

Welcome to our home

Learn about Self Reliant Rural Living, Gardening, Preparedness, Camping, Bushcraft, Survival Skills and Health.

By Harold Carey Jr

Videos

Recent Posts

  • Why eating wild plants and wildlife is generally a bad idea
  • Requirements for the Wilderness Survival merit badge:
  • Proper clothing to wear while in the outdoors
  • Ways to treat water found in the outdoors
  • How to protect yourself from insects and animals
  • How to build a natural shelter in the wilderness
  • Ground-to-air signals
  • How to use a signal mirror

Tags

animals bear blisters boil Bushcraft Cartoon Clothing cold dehydration disinfect water Exercise Finance Fire food Freeze Garden heart Heat stroke hot hypothermia Ice insects insurance Jobs Kit money nature plants precipitation Rain recipe Shelter snow Solar Storm Survival skills Technology Tinder water weather wilderness survival Wind winter woods Workers

Categories

Harold Carey Jr. Copyright © 2025 · Log in