What is the 'mouth taping' trend on TikTok? Medical experts warn against dangerous challenge

TikTok users are taking part in a new trend called "mouth taping," but medical professionals are advising against it.

The app has time and again seen dangerous trends go viral on it. From the "milkcrate" challenge to the "blackout" challenge, TikTokers have suffered major injuries after taking part in harmful fads.

The current trend on the app claims that it helps people solve their mouth-breathing problems by taping their lips shut and breathing through the nose instead, but doctors think that it can turn into a life-threatening situation.

At the time of writing this article, the hashtag #mouthtaping had over 23 million views on TikTok. Here, we will discuss the claims made by the challenge takers and how the trend can prove to be fatal.

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What is the "mouth taping" trend and what is it trying to promote?

"Mouth taping" is exactly what it sounds like. Challengers take a small piece of tape and put it on their lips. The adhesives used for this are usually medical-grade tapes that are meant to be used on the skin. Additionally, people only use a small amount of tape and do not seal their mouths completely.

TikTokers partaking in the challenge claim that the activity helps them keep their mouths closed while sleeping and promotes nose breathing.

Nose breathing is a healthy habit that comes with numerous advantages. In a conversation with Newsweek, Sleep expert James Wilson, aka The Sleep Geek, listed many different advantages of nose breathing:

"Nose breathing is healthier than mouth breathing as it filters foreign particles out, it humidifies the air you breathe in and breathing through your nose helps dilate your blood vessels, which can help the body circulate blood more efficiently."

He further added:

"Nose breathing also helps prevent tooth decay (yes really), reduces snoring, makes it less likely you will react to allergens, reduces the impact of asthma and even helps prevent bad breath."

However, he emphasized that despite the benefits of nose breathing, people should not tape their lips in order to develop these good habits since it can have dangerously adverse effects on their health and well-being.

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Why is the trend harmful for challengers?

Medical experts say no to mouth taping, explaining that the risk related to the activity is comparatively high when compared to its advantages. Speaking about the trend, Wilson revealed:

"Unfortunately, mouth taping is an extreme way of encouraging nose breathing that has some serious health risks."

He continued by saying that the activity can "contribute to more serious issues like heart disease, COPD and stroke, particularly if applied and you are a sleep apnea sufferer."

Dr. Aarti Grover, medical director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Tufts Medical Center, shared a similar sentiment. She explained that shutting lips can result in lower oxygen intake at night, and added:

“Imagine you have an obstruction in your nasal cavity either from allergies or you’re congested and on top of that you tape your mouth, it could be problematic because you’re not getting enough air in from your nasal or your oral cavity, this could result in a person not getting enough oxygen at night."

Dr. Kathryn Boling, a primary care doctor at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland, deemed the TikTok challenge a "terrible idea."

She added that lips are too delicate to stick and rip off tape every day. She also said that if a person with a taped mouth gets nauseated or sick, and has to throw up, they run the risk of choking on their own vomit.

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Instead of participating in the trend, experts recommend engaging in various breathing exercises, which can foster breathing through the nose, without going to extreme levels of mouth taping.