If you’re on TikTok or staying up to date with beauty trends, you’ve inevitably seen at least a few creators talking about the benefits of mouth taping. Whether you’ve seen users toting the benefits of the technique for snoring, mouth breathing, bad breath, dental hygiene, sleep quality or even aesthetics, there are endless reasons why people can’t get enough of the overnight beauty hack.
While dental hygienists, sleep experts and more have confirmed the benefits of mouth taping, I was still skeptical of whether or not I could get behind the trend, mostly because of the fear that the sensation would be suffocating. However, I’ve struggled with TMJ issues and chronic fatigue for years, and after seeing how many people swear by the technique for solving these issues, I decided to give it a try, and honestly I’m never going back.
Mouth Taping: What It Feels Like
As mentioned previously, one of the main things that held me back from trying mouth taping until now was the fear that having my mouth literally taped shut while sleeping would be anxiety-inducing, but I knew within moments of applying the mouth tape that that was not the case. I opted for Sol Oral Care’s Hush Tape for Sleeping ($22), and as soon as I put the strip across my mouth, I actually felt more relaxed.
Immediately, I could feel the tape keeping my jaw and tongue in the proper resting position. I felt my body instinctively trying to uncenter my jaw or grind my teeth, but believe it or not, the small but mighty piece of tape really keeps your mouth in a healthy position. Luckily, I at no point felt like I was going to suffocate and actually found the pressure of the tape quite relaxing—it was almost like a weighted stuffed animal for your mouth.
Does Mouth Taping Work? My Firsthand Experience
In addition to years of jaw pain on account of TMJ and grinding my teeth in my sleep—certain days, I would wake up and have to use my hands to reset my jaw before I could open my mouth fully—I’ve also struggled with dryness in my mouth and throat and chronic fatigue, all of which are things mouth taping is supposed to help with. I can confidently say that after the first night I tried taping my mouth before bed, I knew that this was the real deal.
The next morning, I woke up feeling rested and not tired, which is something I haven’t experienced in a long while. In addition, that borderline painful dryness in my nose and throat was gone on account of the fact that I was breathing through my nose and not my mouth. I even felt like I looked less puffy when I woke up, too. All in all, I found the actual process very relaxing and the benefits were instantaneous enough to have convinced me to do it every night since.