Why use mouth tape at night?
Sceptical about mouth taping? I was too, so here's the science as to why it may be something to build into your bedtime routine.
Firstly what is it doing? It's taping our mouth shut, to encourage us to breathe in and out of our noses during the night.
How is it helping?
WAKE UP FEELING FRESH
When we breathe through our mouths, we lose 40% more water, meaning we may wake up with a headache, parched or feeling a little groggy.
GO TO THE BATHROOM AT NIGHT LESS
Get up often in the night to go to the bathroom for a pee? This may be down to how you breathe. During our 24 hour body clock, at night we release a hormone called Vasopressin which instructs the body to store water, so our circadian system keeps us hydrated whilst we are sleeping. If we're waking up because of poor breathing, sleep apnea or snoring whilst we sleep, this interrupts our ability to release this hormone, so the kidneys release water and triggers our need to go pee pee. Closing the mouth as we sleep prevents this process in the body.
REDUCE CAVITIES
It reduces smelly morning breath and cavities. When we breathe through our mouths, we breath in pathogens and bacteria in the air which would otherwise be filtered out by the nose.
REDUCE SLEEP APNEA
We will sleep better, helping to reduce sleep apnea (breath holding or absence of breathing during sleep), snoring and insomnia.
TAKE YOUR NOSE TO THE GYM
When we mouth tape, we can train the tissues inside our nasal cavity to stay open and receptive, so breathing in and out of your nose during the day becomes easier. Think of it like going to the gym for your nose, without doing any heavy lifting.
Here’s the tape I use:
Ready to learn more? I offer 1:1 Breathwork sessions to learn simple tools like this, or join me weekly for BREATHE, a 60 minute, breathwork focused class.