Quality sleep is important to our overall health and well-being, so it’s frustrating when sleep disorders prevent us from achieving this. As your trusted provider of snoring treatment, Los Gatos’ Spark Sleep Solutions works to provide the right treatment to help you get a good night’s sleep.
Mouth breathing is a common issue many struggles with during sleep. Luckily, there are some strategies to help treat this, one such being mouth taping. Read on to learn how mouth taping could help you get the sleep you need.
What is Mouth Taping?
Mouth taping is a method of correction for those who habitually sleep with their mouths open. Mouth breathing during sleep has been associated with negative side effects, so one may choose to tape their mouth closed during sleep to force nasal breathing.
How to Safely Practice Mouth Taping
As your provider for Bay Area sleep apnea solutions, Spark Sleep Solutions encourages safe practices of all sleep apnea and snoring mitigations. Prior to attempting any at-home treatments, it’s important to speak to your primary care physician or Bay Area sleep apnea solutions specialist, especially as there are no official guidelines for practicing mouth taping at this time.
Run a Daytime Test
Before attempting mouth taping during sleep, try it during the day while awake. If you feel too uncomfortable or have trouble breathing during the day, you should not attempt mouth taping during sleep.
Use the Proper Tape
Use a porous tape that was manufactured to be used on human skin. This type of tape is sticky enough to encourage a closed mouth, but not so sticky that you could not overcome the adhesive if you truly needed to open your mouth. Other forms of tape such as masking tape, duct tape, or box tapes are too sticky to be safe and are more likely to cause skin irritation or even trigger an allergic reaction.
How to Apply Tape
Apply the tape over your top and bottom lips so that you cannot easily open your mouth. This can be done horizontally or vertically, although many may find the vertical option to be more comfortable, especially if you are prone to feeling claustrophobic.
Advanced Snoring Treatment in Los Gatos and the Bay Area
If you suffer from sleep apnea, snoring, or mouth breathing, seek advice from your Santa Cruz snoring treatment provider. Spark Sleep Solutions has several locations to serve our patients, so you can feel confident there is always a Bay Area Sleep apnea solutions specialist near you. Contact Spark Sleep Solutions today to learn more or to schedule your appointment.