Do nasal strips help during exercise?

Nasal strips can help during exercise by opening the front of the nose, which in lab studies made nose breathing take less effort and pushed back the point where people switched to mouth breathing. A few trials also found lower heart rate and perceived effort at moderate intensity. Whether that adds up to better fitness or faster times is less settled, and the two pooled reviews on that question disagree.

What do strips actually change in the nose?

Nasal strips widen the nasal valve and lower nasal resistance, and this effect on the nose itself is the clearest part of the research.

A 1997 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in Laryngoscope measured 53 athletes and found that at rest, the strip significantly increased the area of the nasal valve in every group tested. In 30 of those athletes who exercised on a bike, the strip also lowered submaximal perceived exertion, heart rate, ventilation and oxygen consumption compared with placebo.

A 2000 study in the Journal of Applied Physiology measured 15 healthy adults breathing only through the nose during graded cycling. The strip lowered resting nasal resistance past the researchers' threshold in 11 of them, whom they called responders. In those responders, it also reduced the work of breathing through the nose during exercise. The authors concluded the strip stiffens the side walls of the nose and may reduce the energy needed for nasal breathing.

A third study, published in 2000 in the European Respiratory Journal, found that during fast, deep breathing, the strip lowered nasal resistance in most of the 20 healthy adults tested. The authors concluded that strips work both by widening the nasal valve and by steadying the side walls of the nose.

Do strips help you keep breathing through your nose?

Yes, nasal strips help you keep breathing through your nose a little longer during exercise. A 1999 study in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology looked at the point during exercise when people switch from breathing only through the nose to breathing through the nose and mouth.

With a strip on, inspiratory nasal resistance dropped from 0.33 to 0.22 kPa/L/s. The time from the start of exercise to the switch increased by 15.2%, and the airflow and ventilation people reached before switching rose by 14.9% and 14.3%. The authors concluded that strips do promote nasal breathing during exercise, though the delay before mouth breathing kicks in appears relatively small.

If you're working on nose breathing during easy sessions, that's the most practical benefit. See nasal breathing during exercise and nasal vs mouth breathing for why and when it makes sense.

Do nasal strips help with running performance?

Nasal strips may help running performance, but the evidence is weak so far. Two systematic reviews have pooled the studies, and they point in slightly different directions.

The first, published in 2022 in the Journal of Sports Sciences, looked specifically at running and included 11 studies. It found a difference in favour of nasal dilators compared with placebo for VO2max and perceived exertion. The authors rated the certainty of the evidence as very low and said future studies will probably change the estimate.

The second, published in 2021 in the European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, screened 624 studies and found 19 eligible for review. In the pooled analysis, strips made no statistically significant difference to maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) across 168 participants, to heart rate across 138 participants, or to rating of perceived exertion across 92 participants. The authors concluded that the strip showed no improvement in these outcomes in healthy people during exercise.

Individual studies vary a lot. A 2014 review of external nasal dilators describes a trial in 30 adolescent male athletes where a strip improved aerobic performance by 2.9% compared with placebo, and another in adolescent athletes that found a higher VO2max and a lower heart rate after a fitness test with the strip. The same review describes other trials, including one in triathletes, where a strip made no difference to heart rate or perceived effort. So strips may help some people feel better while they train, but there isn't good evidence that they raise fitness for everyone.

Why did athletes start wearing nasal strips?

According to the 2014 review, external nasal dilators were introduced in the 1990s and became more popular after athletes wore them at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The review also cites researchers who said they were first used by American football players, partly to make up for mouth guards, which make breathing through the mouth harder and nose breathing more important.

The studies in mouth guard users haven't shown a performance effect. The review describes one trial where a strip didn't change anaerobic capacity in athletes wearing mouth guards, and another that found no effect on treadmill performance. If you wear a guard and a strip feels more comfortable, there's no reason not to, as long as you see it as a comfort choice.

Who is most likely to notice a difference?

People whose noses are tighter at rest seem to get the most from a strip. In the 2000 European Respiratory Journal study, only 9 of 20 people showed a significant drop in resistance with the strip during quiet breathing, and those responders had higher nasal resistance to begin with. The authors suggested strips may be more effective in people with high resting nasal resistance.

Exercise opens the nose on its own to some degree. The 2014 review notes that the 1997 athlete study confirmed this decongestant effect of exercise, and still found the strip improved the nasal airway on top of it.

Almost all of this research was done in healthy adults, many of them athletes, with no particular nasal problems. People with a deviated septum, nasal valve collapse or chronic congestion haven't been studied much during exercise. Our two-minute nose test is a rough way to see how easily you breathe through your nose, and how nasal strips work explains what a strip can and can't reach.

How do you get a strip to stay on while you train?

To get a strip to stay on while you train, do most of the work before you start. Breathe Right says the adhesive won't stick properly to wet, oily or moisturised skin, so wash and dry your nose and put the strip on before you warm up. It goes just above the point where your nostrils flare out, and you rub it gently to secure it.

Pick the right size. Breathe Right recommends its large size for adults and small/medium for children and smaller faces, and says not to cut a strip to make it fit. Each strip is single use. To take it off afterwards, wash your face with warm water for about 10 seconds and peel it slowly from each side rather than ripping it. How to apply nasal strips has step-by-step placement, and our nasal strips topic hub collects the rest of our guides.

Should you wear a nasal strip when you train?

If you like how a strip feels during easy runs or rides, it's a low-risk thing to use. The studies above found it opens the front of the nose and, in many people, makes nose breathing take less effort.

Keep your expectations about performance modest. The larger review found no effect on the main fitness measures, and the review that did find one rated its own evidence very low certainty. If your nose feels blocked most of the time, not just during exercise, the cause may be something a strip can't reach, and it's worth getting checked.

If you want to try nasal strips, our pick is TitanAir Nasal Strips.

* 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.