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According to a 2023 survey of 2,005 adults who had recently tried sleep trends, more than one in 10 people had tried mouth taping. People admit to trying the trend to stop snoring, reduce mouth breathing, and for some—to change their face shape. Some videos on the social platform claim that mouth taping improves the jawline and reduces the appearance of a double chin.
Despite the online popularity of the sleep trend, the medical evidence to support this practice is scant, says Indira Gurubhagavatula, professor of medicine at Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, and spokesperson for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
Instead, mouth taping may actually cause health problems.
I’ve tried it and it definitely helps my sleep, but I certainly didn’t cover my mouth. A small strip below the nose across the lips, vertically, was sufficient. I was still able to breathe out of the sides of my mouth, holding my nose (as a test). I used a brand of sensitive skin kinesiology tape and had no issues, aside from needing to be clean shaven, or close to it.
My use case was I sometimes snore and would wake up with particularly bad breath, depending on the position I slept in. I had no “jawline” or “double chin” goals.