Is mouth taping safe? Who should try it and who shouldn't

Most healthy adults who breathe easily through their nose can try mouth taping, as long as they use tape made for skin and can peel it off quickly. The real risks come from taping when your nose is blocked, or when loud snoring is actually sleep apnea. Both are things you can check before your first night, and this page walks through them.

What does the research say about safety?

In 2025, researchers published a systematic review in PLOS One that pulled together every study they could find on mouth taping for mouth breathing, snoring and sleep apnea. They found 10 studies with 213 people in total, and rated all of them as poor quality. Their conclusion was that the evidence doesn't support mouth taping as a treatment for sleep-disordered breathing, and they flagged possible risks, including suffocation when the nose is blocked.

Four of the 10 studies discussed that risk directly, describing it in the presence of a blocked nose or regurgitation. Many of the studies also screened out anyone with nasal obstruction before taping. In other words, the people who did well in the research were people whose noses worked, and that's the main thing to copy.

That doesn't mean mouth tape is dangerous for everyone. It means nobody has run the large, careful studies that would tell us exactly who it helps and who it harms. Until they do, the sensible approach is to rule out the situations where it's clearly risky.

How did people in the studies get on?

The studies were small and short, but they give a sense of how people cope with tape. In a 2009 study in Respiratory Medicine, 51 adults with asthma were asked to tape their mouths at night for 4 weeks. Fifty finished, they taped for a median of 26 out of 28 nights, and 36 said it was very or fairly acceptable. Taping didn't change their asthma control, which was the question the study was asking.

In the 2022 study in Healthcare, 20 adults with mild sleep apnea taped for a week, and their snoring and breathing interruptions roughly halved. That study only included people who could keep the tape on overnight, so it doesn't tell us how many people find it hard.

Who shouldn't use mouth tape?

Skip it, or talk to a doctor first, if any of these apply to you:

• You can't breathe comfortably through your nose with your mouth closed.
• Your nose is blocked right now from a cold, allergies or a sinus infection.
• You snore loudly most nights, or someone has noticed you gasp, choke or stop breathing in your sleep.
• You often wake up exhausted or feel very sleepy during the day.
• You've been drinking or taken something that makes you sleep more heavily.

The third and fourth points matter most. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says snoring combined with choking, gasping or silent pauses in breathing is a reliable sign of sleep apnea, and that daytime sleepiness after a full night in bed is another. Mouth tape doesn't treat sleep apnea, and it can make it easier to ignore.

Sleep Foundation adds several more groups who shouldn't mouth tape:

• people with sleep apnea who aren't using CPAP, because taping can worsen breathing disruptions
• people with asthma or COPD, unless a doctor advises it
• people with anxiety or panic disorders
• anyone at risk of vomiting during sleep

Cleveland Clinic's sleep specialist also lists enlarged tonsils, a deviated septum, chronic allergies and heart issues as reasons not to tape.

Mouth tape is also for adults only. Sleep Foundation says mouth taping in children hasn't been studied and shouldn't be tried. Our page on mouth tape for kids explains what to do instead.

What the one positive study actually tested

The study people cite most often is that small 2022 trial. Researchers taped the mouths of 20 adults who breathed through their mouths at night and had mild sleep apnea. After a week, 13 of them responded well, and the median number of breathing interruptions per hour dropped from 8.3 to 4.7.

It's an encouraging result for that group. Everyone in the study had mild sleep apnea, there was no comparison group, and the authors themselves said mouth taping isn't recommended for people with moderate or severe sleep apnea. People with a blocked nose were given medication and nasal spray before they started taping.

What side effects should you expect?

Most reported side effects are minor and stop when you stop taping. Sleep Foundation lists:

• skin irritation, with redness, rashes or dryness around the lips
• discomfort for people with facial hair, since tape can pull on it
• disrupted sleep from discomfort or difficulty breathing
• anxious awakenings from feeling restricted, especially for people prone to claustrophobia

Cleveland Clinic's list overlaps and adds difficulty breathing, allergic reactions to the tape and trouble falling or staying asleep. It notes these can be harder for people who have always breathed through their mouth.

If your skin reacts, our guide to mouth tape skin irritation covers gentler tapes and removal. If the tape makes you anxious, mouth taping and anxiety has some ways to ease into it.

How to lower the risk if you try it

1. Do the nose test. Close your mouth and breathe only through your nose for two minutes while sitting quietly. If that's hard, don't tape.
2. Use tape made for skin. The 2022 study used a silicone, hypoallergenic tape. Sleep Foundation recommends a porous tape intended for skin. Never use office tape or duct tape.
3. Practice while you're awake, for 15 to 20 minutes at a time, before trying it overnight. Sleep Foundation also suggests testing the tape during the day.
4. Make sure you can open your mouth or peel the tape off easily with one hand. Folding over one corner before bed, as Sleep Foundation suggests, gives you something to grab.
5. Stop if you wake up short of breath or panicky, or if your skin gets sore.

Which kind of tape placement is safest?

A narrow strip placed vertically over the middle of the lips leaves the corners of the mouth open. The trial registered as NCT06587256 uses a single vertical strip of silicone tape and describes it this way: when placed properly, the wearer can still breathe in and out and cough around the tape if needed, but tends to keep the mouth closed otherwise.

That's a sensible thing to aim for. A tape that seals the whole mouth gives you less of a margin if your nose blocks during the night. Our guide to the best type of mouth tape compares the common shapes.

Is mouth taping safe when you're sick or congested?

Mouth taping isn't safe while your nose is blocked. Sleep Foundation says anyone with nasal congestion from allergies, a cold or a deviated septum shouldn't tape, because nasal breathing may not be possible. Take a break until you can breathe freely again. Our guide to mouth tape with a cold covers when to pick it back up.

Can you use mouth tape with CPAP?

You can use mouth tape with CPAP only with your sleep doctor's agreement. Sleep Foundation notes that mouth taping may help reduce CPAP mask leaks caused by mouth breathing, and the 2025 review found three studies that reported less mouth leak once the mouth was held closed. That's a conversation to have with whoever manages your CPAP. Read more in mouth tape and CPAP.

Read next

• What is mouth taping? A beginner's guide
• How to start mouth taping: your first week
• Is mouth taping safe for me?, our short checklist

* 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.