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Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - drmaestro - 05-24-2020
Hi,
As a mouth breather who really likes nasal cradles, I am trying solutions to shut my mouth off. Taping my mouth is one of the options but I have seen some products online which can be used to tape the area around your mouth without sealing the mouth itself. They look like a flat "U" with rectangular corners. Do they really work? I tried to simulate it yesterday using blue masking tape. I have a large (5 cm width) tape that I cut similarly (like an U) and also used a camera to record my sleep. The tape stayed in place but didn't prevent my mouth from opening. Do commercial versions work better or is it a hopeless cause?
Thanks...
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - ardenum - 05-24-2020
If you can breathe through the nose, using a wide bandaid on a cleaned and dried mouth works.
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - Sleepster - 05-24-2020
Have you tried a chin strap? I know you said you like your nasal cradles, but if the chin strap doesn't work you might find that you like a full face mask, too. The problem with taping is that there's no anti-asphyxiation valve like you find on full face masks.
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - Dormeo - 05-24-2020
I use Somnifix, which is gentle on the skin but keeps my lips from parting. I don't know whether you'd call the shape a U-shape.
Two things to keep in mind about taping. One is that if you suddenly needed to vomit in the night, you'd need to rip the tape off quickly so you wouldn't inhale the vomitus. I regard the risk here as infinitesimal, but if I feel at all queasy, I remove the tape.
The other is that if there's a power outage in the night, you want to be sure you're aware of it, given that you wouldn't be able to switch to mouth-breathing in your sleep. For that purpose I have a circuit alarm plugged into the same circuit as my machine. I have the Reliance alarm, which I got via Amazon. The sound of the alarm is similar to the sound of an alarm clock in volume.
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - Big Guy - 05-24-2020
Dang.......I can't recall the last time I ever had to vomit in the night. Come to think of it, it's never happened.
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - Dormeo - 05-24-2020
(05-24-2020, 11:41 AM)Big Guy Wrote: Dang.......I can't recall the last time I ever had to vomit in the night. Come to think of it, it's never happened.
Yeah, same here. The sleep tech went on and on about this, but in my mind I was just
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - drmaestro - 05-24-2020
Thanks for the comments. I am sure taping the lips would work. What I was wondering is if taping the area around the lips without taping the lips would work? I probably can't give a commercial link but you can search for chin-up strips.
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - Dormeo - 05-24-2020
Oh, now I see what you're talking about. I've never used them, and I don't think they'd be quite right for me. The advertising says they help to support the chin. My chin stays in place, but my lips part anyhow. If you try these, I'd be curious to hear whether they help.
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - mesenteria - 05-24-2020
(05-24-2020, 12:21 PM)drmaestro Wrote: Thanks for the comments. I am sure taping the lips would work. What I was wondering is if taping the area around the lips without taping the lips would work? I probably can't give a commercial link but you can search for chin-up strips.
No, it won't work. You must actually bind both lips 'closed' by taping over them directly.
I have never tried the Somnifix, but people have used it and have reported good things. I went looking for whatever would get me through the second night, not wanting...EVER...to repeat the first, and I settled on white sports tape. It was small 'o' okay. Worked, not great. It isn't very water resistant, which you'll need in order to account for the effects of drool.
I soon found 3M Corp's 'water resistant' NexCare 2.5 cm wide tape. It's white in a largish plastic spool covered by a plastic cylinder into which the spool can be inserted. It's what I have continued to use.
Tips for success:
Before you tear off and apply any suitable length of tape from the roll, fold over approximately 5 mm of the free end and adhere it to the sticky substance. That will be your quick-removal tab for when you vomit in the night (P <0.0000000000000000001. No, really.)
Make sure the length of tape is sufficient to extend for close to a cm beyond the 'corners' of your mouth. That's why you make your safety tab before tearing off the length you'll need.
Use your finger tips to press firmly all over the surface of the tape after you have applied it. This will help to seal the facial surface and lips, and to prevent drool from leaking out and eventually compromising the seal.
Keep a spare roll of the tape bedside. At least six times in my 2.5 years, I have had to remove a less than perfect tape application that had begun to leak, and didn't want to have to rise, go to the bathroom, open the drawer, tear off another strip....you get the picture. Having a spare allows you both that luxury and convenience, but also provides a handy remedy to a botched previous application.
RE: Taping around the mouth: Does it work? - weiss27md - 05-24-2020
Practicing correct tongue posture will help. You can't breathe out of your mouth when you have the correct tongue posture. Put the tip of your tongue about half an inch back from the back of your top teeth on the roof of your mouth, then swallow and hold that tongue posture. Your tongue should be stuck to the roof of your mouth. Now open your mouth with your tongue still up there and you'll see you can not breathe out of your mouth. A soft cervical collar also works.