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Is taping your mouth shut the key to undisturbed sleep?

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If there was a competitive sport called ‘tossing and turning for adults’, I would certainly be competing for gold. There is something about sleeping that just gets me worked up.

When flying, I usually wear that pirate-like sleep mask for the sake of not being distracted by every Tom, Dick and Harry who walks past me. Perhaps I have an overactive imagination? It's just that I constantly choose being awake over being asleep.

It's a blessing and a curse.

And very unpredictable also. Some nights, sleep descends as effortlessly as Oksana Baiul’s 1994 Winter Olympics performance, while other nights my rest is much closer to a scene from The Shining. It’s sweaty, my heart beats fast and my mind is forever on the go.

Luckily unlike Johnny, I only think stress-inducing thoughts and not murderous ones.

So, after spotting a recent article and study on Manrepeller.com concerning sleep and mouth taping as a possible solution to sleep depravity, I was intrigued.

Do I have the ability to become a nose breather? I have no idea.

Read: Wait, should we really actually shower just once a week?

Manrepeller.com reported on the advice found on AsktheDentist.com. Dr. Burhenne, a dentist with many years of experience, says that nasal breathing is the normal way to breathe.

We kind of knew this, right? We know that when we have anxiety or start to panic that we should be breathing from our diaphragm instead of jerking our shoulders up and taking a "deep" breath using our mouth. The former is actually much deeper.

“Start watching people around you—your family, your co-workers. You’ll notice that a lot of people mouth breathe by default. Mouth breathing elevates blood pressure and heart rate, worsens asthma, allergies, and deprives the heart, brain, and other organs of optimal oxygenation,” says Dr. Burhenne.

Placing the tape over your mouth will force you to breathe from your nose. 

Breathing.com notes that an academic journal, Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology, published findings that the internal nose provides 90% of the respiratory system’s air-conditioning. It also recovers around 33% of exhaled heat and moisture.

Does this mean less overheating? Fewer night sweats while I toss and turn so competitively? Not exactly. The heat changes are more related to low estrogen or fluctuating estrogen levels, says Women’s Health mag.

But AsktheDentist.com’s Dr. Burhenne says that when you nose breathe, you get the benefits of nitric oxide, which can completely transform or improve your health. Nitric oxide can prevent cavities, improve your memory, help you to recover from pain faster, help you to lose weight (?!), reduce your anxiety and stress levels, boost immunity and help you to be more focused. Um, so basically... it's good for your health?

OnDietAndHealth.com also reports that it can eliminate snoring, allergies, improve dental health and calm your body. Oh, so maaaaybe fewer night sweats are in my future after-all. 

Want to give it a go?

NOTE: Don’t try this when you’ve been drinking heavily before bed. Consult your doctor before trying this.

How to tape your mouth and which tape to get - Watch this:



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