The best nasal strips for women: what to look for, and our pick

The best nasal strips for women fit the soft part of your nose without their ends lifting, hold on clean skin all night and peel off gently in the morning. There's no such thing as a strip built for women's noses, and no study has compared strips by sex. What does differ for many women is when and why the nose gets blocked, from hormones and pregnancy to menopause, and that shapes how you choose and use a strip. This guide covers fit, skin, the life stages that change things, who strips suit and the strips we recommend.

Do nasal strips work for women?

Nasal strips work for women the same way they work for anyone: a springy band lifts the sides of the nose outward so air has an easier path in. In a 1997 study in Laryngoscope, an external nasal dilator widened the nasal valve in all the demographic groups the researchers measured among 53 athletes.

There's no evidence that strips work better or worse for women. The useful questions are whether a strip fits your nose and whether a narrow or stuffy nose is the reason you're struggling at night. Our guide to how nasal strips work explains the mechanics.

What does the research say about nasal strips and snoring?

Nasal strips have small but real evidence for snoring linked to a blocked nose, and none of it looks at women separately. In a 2000 trial in the European Respiratory Journal, 12 people with chronic rhinitis, a long-lasting stuffy or runny nose, snored less often with a strip than with a placebo strip, about 173 snores an hour compared with 258. The strips didn't change how loud the snoring was, or their sleep quality.

Strips have limits. A 2016 review and meta-analysis found nasal dilators improved nasal breathing but didn't improve obstructive sleep apnea, with no significant change in the apnea-hypopnea index in 147 patients. So strips are a tool for nose-related snoring and stuffiness, not for sleep apnea.

Do women need smaller nasal strips?

Women don't automatically need smaller strips, because fit depends on your nose rather than your sex. A 2022 study in Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology built 3D models of the nasal airway from scans of 16 people and found the airway's volume and surface area were significantly larger in men than in women on average. But the authors said these differences may not significantly influence how the nose works, and the study was very small.

So rather than buying by sex, check the fit on your own nose. Titan's instructions place the strip just above the flare of the nostrils, on the soft part of the nose rather than the bony bridge. On a smaller or narrower nose, that means checking a few things during a daytime trial:

• Both ends lie flat on the sides of your nose rather than curling up or reaching onto your cheeks.
• The strip sits on the soft part of the nose, not up on the bone.
• You can feel the sides of your nose lift when you press the ends down.
• The edges are still flat when you take it off in the morning.

If the ends keep lifting, the fit may be the problem rather than the adhesive. Our guide to nasal strip sizes goes into how strips differ, and how to apply nasal strips covers placement step by step.

What about skin, makeup and moisturizer?

Skin prep matters more than skin type for most people. Titan's instructions say to wash and dry your nose and skip moisturizer, because oils stop the adhesive from gripping. For many women, that means changing the order of the evening routine: cleanse, dry, put the strip on, then apply face cream around it rather than over it.

Skin changes over a lifetime too. A 2013 study of 300 adults in the International Journal of Cosmetic Science found that women's sebum, the skin's natural oil, decreases progressively over their lifetime, while men's stays higher and stable. Less oil may make strips easier to keep on, but drier, more delicate skin calls for a gentle removal. Titan's advice is to loosen the strip with warm water and peel slowly from the ends inward. If your skin gets red or sore, our guide to nasal strip skin irritation has more tips.

Do hormones affect your nose?

Hormones may affect how blocked your nose feels at different times. A 2004 study in Clinical Otolaryngology measured the noses of 10 women at the start of a period and around ovulation. Most measures pointed to more nasal congestion around ovulation, when estrogen levels rise, though only two of the changes were statistically significant. It was a tiny study, so it can't tell you how common this is, but if your nose feels stuffier at certain times of the month, you're not imagining a pattern.

Can you use nasal strips during pregnancy?

Ask your midwife or doctor before using nasal strips in pregnancy. Strips are drug-free, which is why many people consider them, but the evidence is mixed. A 2022 study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine gave nasal strips to 54 pregnant women who snored. The strips made no significant difference to measures of sleep-disordered breathing, and the women's own ratings of their sleep didn't change either.

Snoring in pregnancy is worth raising with your care team rather than only treating at home. The NHLBI says pregnancy can raise the risk of sleep apnea or make it worse, and that it's often more serious in the third trimester. Our guide to nasal strips during pregnancy covers the research and practical tips in more detail.

Do nasal strips help with snoring during menopause?

Nasal strips can help with snoring during menopause if a narrow or stuffy nose is part of the cause. But new snoring around menopause deserves a closer look. The NHLBI says women's risk of sleep apnea increases during and after menopause, partly because of hormone changes and weight gain, including around the neck.

The Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, published in 2003, followed 589 women. After adjusting for age, body size and smoking, postmenopausal women had 2.6 times the odds of premenopausal women of having five or more breathing events an hour, and 3.5 times the odds of having 15 or more. The authors said evaluating sleep-disordered breathing should be a priority for menopausal women who snore, feel sleepy in the day or sleep poorly. Our article on menopause and snoring explains what changes.

What should women look for in nasal strips?

The checklist below covers what matters most, with the reason behind each point.

Who do nasal strips suit?

Nasal strips suit women whose nose feels narrow or stuffy at night, who snore lightly through the nose, or who breathe through the mouth because the nose feels tight. They also pair well with mouth tape for women whose mouth falls open, as long as the nose is clear enough to breathe through all night. Our guide to mouth tape and nasal strips together explains how the two fit.

They're not the right first step if your nose has been blocked for weeks, if you're pregnant and haven't checked with your care team, or if you have signs of sleep apnea.

When should you see a doctor?

See a doctor if you snore loudly and someone has noticed gasping or pauses in your breathing, or if you have the symptoms the NHLBI says women more often have with sleep apnea: tiredness, daytime sleepiness, insomnia, waking often, morning headaches, anxiety or depression. It notes that women may not have typical symptoms such as snoring, so it's easy to miss. See your doctor too if one side of your nose is always blocked, or if congestion lasts for weeks. If you're pregnant, ask your midwife or doctor before trying strips.

We don't recommend mouth tape for children.

Our pick (paid partner): TitanAir Nasal Strips

Our pick for women is TitanAir Nasal Strips. They aren't made only for women, and we haven't tested or ranked nasal strips ourselves. This is our recommendation, based on how Titan describes its strips against the checklist above.

Titan describes TitanAir as drug-free external nasal dilators with flexible spring-loaded bands. Its instructions match the checklist: wash and dry your nose, skip moisturizer, and place the strip just above the flare of your nostrils on the soft part of the nose, not the bony bridge. To remove it, Titan says to loosen it with warm water and peel slowly from the ends inward, which suits drier or more delicate skin.

Titan's product page doesn't list separate sizes, so use the first few nights to check the fit on your own nose. Titan says the strips are third-party tested and PFAS-free, and its 30-night guarantee gives you time to judge them. They're designed to pair with Titan Mouth Tape if your mouth also falls open at night.

Read next

• Nasal strip buying guide: 8 things to look for
• Sleep apnea in women: symptoms that get missed
• The best snoring solutions for women

* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.