A simple measure to improve breathing is to tape your mouth at night. It may sound strange, but I recommend that everyone try it. If you feel uncomfortable, you can tape your mouth fifteen minutes before bedtime to get used to it. When you feel safe with the tape and the changed breathing pattern, it becomes natural to try the next step: taping your mouth at night.

Vanliga kommentarer är att man vaknar piggare, sover lugnare och behöver mindre sömn. Även om det inte har världens största erotikfaktor går det ju alltid att kramas först och sedan tejpa munnen. En del har valt strategin att vänta med att tejpa munnen tills partnern somnat. Kanske kan du även få din partner att tejpa munnen? Jag rekommenderar inte barn under fem år att tejpa munnen på natten.

Practical experience

Here is how a couple of women write about their experiences:

–I panicked at first but got used to it … was lying down for a while, then woke up and removed the tape, but then, after a few days, it worked out really well, and now I don’t think about it … slept last night about seven hours on end with the tape … (usually waking up several times otherwise) have started sleeping better since I could keep the tape on … do not react that much if you panic … just remove the tape and get used to it gradually at your own pace …

–“… When I tried it the first time, I panicked. Then, I went to the breathing. I focused on breathing, and after a while my emotions changed, and I fell asleep. I knew the feeling would pass or change. Moved my focus to my breath again and again. Has been working well since then.

More practical experience

Here is what another woman writes about her experience:
-I have taped my mouth for a few weeks and sleep great! But then one night, I woke up panicked! Was about to choke, and my heart almost stopped. I had stopped breathing with my nose, and my mouth was, of course, taped. Why do you think this happened? I dare not sleep with tape anymore.

My answer: -Happy that you are sleeping so well with taped mouth, but the night you woke up panicked does not sound like a particularly pleasant experience! It is hard to say what happened. Have you had health, panic, anxiety or heart problems in the past? Maybe this was a reaction to a stressful period in your life? Maybe this was a reaction to something repressed that surfaced?

I understand that it must have been scary when your mouth was taped. If you would dare try the tape again, I recommend that you tape in the evening for a while first to get used to the tape again. A tip is also to split the Sleep Tape into two parts and tape from the nose and down to the chin so that you quickly and easily can remove the tape if needed.

Whereupon the woman replied: –Yes, you are probably right about the anxiety. I am taping my mouth again now and have been doing so all week. Have noticed that I stop breathing with my nose and try to breathe with my mouth taped while lying on my back. If I am refraining from lying down on my back, it works pretty well. I have not woken up with anxiety for a whole week now. Trying to keep my mouth shut and breathe with my stomach when awake now. Feeling much better.

Mouth taping at night – a proven method

In the book “Sluta snarka börja leva” (“Stop Snoring Start Living”) from 1991, the author Tore Strandell gives a tip on taping your mouth at night (see image below). Tore is a licensed physician, associate professor at the Caroline Institute and founder of the Physiology Lab, today Aleris Physiology Lab – the largest sleep clinic in Northern Europe

Taping is done at your own risk

NOTE! All taping of your mouth with Sleep Tape are at your own risk. I recommend that children under five should not tape their mouths at night.

One person says: “As a nurse, I am very interested in relaxation in particular, but I probably cannot in any way support a method that encourages taping of the mouth. I think it is medically inappropriate.“

A senior doctor writes as a comment on an article in Läkartidningen (“The Medical Magazine”) “Tejp hjälpte mot sömnapné” (“Tape healed sleep apnea”) from 1999:

I think mouth taping is potentially very dangerous. Patients with sleep apnea may wake up with anxiety, and then it is then important to start breathing again quickly. The patient who cannot immediately do this could be further stressed with an increased risk of a heart attack.

Our reflex to breathe is extremely strong

“The risks associated with taping your mouth are very much a legitimate issue! At the same time, I do not think we should magnify it. The easiest thing is to note and follow your own reaction. If you get really stressed just by the thought of taping your mouth at night, do not do it. Instead, start by taping your mouth during the day, for example in front of the TV, to get used to the change that will occur in your body. If you have some kind of illness or take medication, it is advisable to consult your doctor.

In general, our reflex to breathe is extremely strong. In this article, you can read about three women who have never been scared, not even when one of them was subjected to a robbery attempt. But when they inhaled large amounts of carbon dioxide, it was enough to trigger a strong breathing reflex to the extent that they became so frightened that they panicked.

The reason they panicked is because the respiratory reflex is controlled by carbon dioxide, a substance that is constantly produced in the body. As carbon dioxide levels rise to a sufficiently high level, the respiratory center in the brain stem is triggered. The brain stem is the oldest part of our brain, and it is where all the functions that ensure our survival are located.

From this breathing center, a signal is sent to the diaphragm to cause it to move downwards, and we breathe in. On the subsequent exhalation, the balance is restored as we exhale the carbon dioxide. If we stop breathing (or hold our breath for a long time), then the rising carbon dioxide levels will eventually activate the survival function of the brainstem to make us take a breath.