You’ve seen it all over social media: the TikTok trend of taping your mouth shut before you go to bed. It claims to be a cure-all for eliminating snoring, curing bad breath, improving your sleep, reducing brain fog … it goes so far as to say that nasal breathing can improve the look of your skin. We asked Dr. Robin Schaffran about this trend and here’s what she had to say:
“While it’s true that mouth breathing while sleeping can create a whole host of problems, there are so many medical reasons why people can’t breathe through their noses, like enlarged adenoids, nasal polyps, allergies, deviated septum, and the list goes on. Taping the mouth shut doesn’t address those problems and can potentially be dangerous when you eliminate the ability to breathe through the mouth. If you are a big mouth breather, you should see an ENT or sleep specialist to address the underlying causes.”
All in all, we’re saying nope to this #SkinTOK trend. There are too many risks involved to be worth the small benefit you might experience as a result. If you're looking for skincare trends that work, plant-powered skincare without harsh ingredients (like the ClearBalm 3-Step System!) is all the rage right now. Other alternatives that are derm-approved include skin slugging, sleeping on your back and LED light therapy.
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