Mouth Taping For Treating Snoring & Dry Mouth

Snoring not only represent holistic health risks to an individual, but also the irritating noise at night can create conflict in a relationship. There are some alternative remedies to treat snoring and dry mouth. One of them is wearing a tape so as to keep your mouth closed while sleeping.

One of the major causes of snoring and dry mouth is mouth breathing during sleep, especially when you sleep in the supine position. When you sleep in this position with open mouth, gravity easily pulls down your jaw and tongue, which in turn compresses your throat. This is when your airway gets suppressed and narrowed, leaving smaller space for the air to pass through. Breathing through mouth also introduces stronger air flows as you breathe, which exacerbates the airway soft tissue vibration, leading to loud snoring noise.

One of the ways to treat snoring and dry mouth involves mouth taping to shut the mouth completely before going to bed so as to prevent mouth opening and breathing via mouth, which in turn prevents drying of mouth and also reduce the intensity of snoring and reduce severity of sleep apnea.

Though snoring and dry mouth can be significantly improved with mouth taping, but it is not an appropriate cure for snoring. Moreover, mouth taping as a treatment to reduce snoring or dry mouth applies only to individuals who sleep with open mouth.

You can technically use any tape for mouth taping; however, it is recommended to use the tapes that are medical grade, porous, hypoallergenic, and non-waterproof tapes. You do not have to wear the tape over the entire mouth. You can even begin by wearing the tape vertically, in the center of the mouth, right beneath your nose. By wearing the tape only at the center position of your mouth, you allow some gaps on both the sides of your mouth. This would help you if you are panicked by the idea of mouth taping.

Below are some of the instructions you need to follow to perform mouth taping to treat snoring and dry mouth.

• Get a roll of medical tape that is porous, hypoallergenic and non-waterproof. You can try 3M Micropore Tape that works really well. However, if you have sensitive skin, paper tape can also be used.
• Apply lip balm to your lips and then purse the lips inward slightly while closing your mouth.
• Then, apply the tape vertically in the midline, such that the lips get taped together. You can tape in a way that covers only the middle third of the lips and both sides remain open. For this, you would require only a 1.5 inch to 3 inch strips of the tape.
• In case the tape sticks to your skin too much, such that it hurts to remove or irritates your skin too much, then reduce the stickiness by applying the tape on and off to your clothing before applying on your mouth.

It must be noted that most people wearing a tape to keep their mouth closed while sleeping, find it convenient and comfortable and also effective; however, you must avoid mouth taping if you experience symptoms like feeling nausea, or if you are epileptic, or if you have consumed alcohol or any medicine before sleeping.

It is true that we must do what our bodies are designed to do, and that is to breathe normally through our nose and not through the mouth. If you are someone who sleeps with mouth opened that might be causing snoring, dry mouth or sleep apnea, then you need to try mouth taping and look for the benefits on your own. It is good if this method helps you, else do see your doctor to get nasal blockage fixed for better breathing, sleep and better health.