I Tried This Viral Hack For Better Sleep & I'm Shocked By My Results

I’m a bit of a sleep snob, but can you blame me? Sleep impacts your energy levels, heart health, metabolism, mood1, and even your skin. And no exaggeration: My entire day changes when I log quality shuteye.

I’ve spent years perfecting my sleep habits, and I’m obsessed with trying all the latest sleep hacks to determine which is worth the hype. 

Mouth tape is fairly self-explanatory: It’s the practice of gently taping your mouth shut while you sleep to encourage breathing through your nose.

Chances are you’ve seen people on social media completing their bedtime routine by placing a thin piece of tape over their mouth, swearing that it helps improve their sleep. But what do science and experts say?

According to James Nestor, New York Times bestselling author of Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, 60% of people mouth breath to come extent—and this can be detrimental to your sleep quality. That’s because when you breathe through your mouth, you’re bypassing your body’s natural buffer system by not properly using your nose.

While research is still limited, there is some evidence that people who breathe through their mouths2 while sleeping spend less time3 in REM sleep, which could negatively impact cognitive function and memory. Another study showed that those who performed mouth-taping saw an improvement in sleep apnea severity4. 

I first learned about mouth taping a few years ago, and I wasn’t sure how much of an impact it would have on my own sleep. I’m not a noisy sleeper, and I don’t have any glaring dental hygiene concerns.

As you may have guessed, I track my sleep religiously with my Oura ring—and my sleep scores are generally in the 80-90 range. I have had a few struggles with achieving enough REM sleep and deep sleep, which was the main concern I hoped to address. 

After a lot of research on the best mouth tape for sleep, I landed on Oi tape, a gentle, BPA-free option that’s made without parabens of phthalates.

I slept with mouth tape every night for one week straight, and at first, I thought the results were a fluke. I had been experiencing lower sleep scores for a few weeks after being sick, but the morning after my first mouth tape experiment, my score shot up over 10 points.

To my surprise, my sleep score did not dip below a 90 the entire rest of the week. What really shocked me, though, was the difference I saw in my REM and deep sleep, along with the amount of movement I experienced throughout the night.

I tend to fall asleep very quickly (a sign your body could be overtired), but I often remain in a light, restless sleep for a long time before settling. As you’ll see in my before (above) and after (below) photos, I ended the week with a 95 sleep score and more than an hour of additional deep sleep.

Plus, I had a much more normal latency (the time it takes to fall asleep), indicating that even just a week with this new habit helped my body recover to a less fatigued state.

I'll try just about anything to improve my sleep, but I won't stick with a habit unless it actually works.