Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
The trend of “Taping the mouth” or closing the mouth with tape or duct tape when to sleep popular again on social media TikTok.
Most TikTok users are following the trend of reducing their snoring habit. In fact, this trend can be dangerous.
A clinical medicine professor Raj Dasgupta said this can be very dangerous for obstructive sleep apnea sufferers. Sleep apnea or sleep apnea is known to be a sleep disorder that causes a person to temporarily stop breathing several times during sleep.
However, obstructive sleep apnea is one of the most common and dangerous sleep disorders. A study published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine journal revealed that more than 1 billion people between the ages of 30 and 69 are estimated to suffer from it.
“The evidence is limited on the benefits of oral patches and you need to be very careful. You need to talk to a healthcare professional before trying it,” Dasgupta said, as quoted by CNN.
However, none of the videos about this trend uploaded to TikTok mention that the practice could be harmful. One woman said that the “mouth taping” trend is helpful for anti-aging and looks more attractive.
The most important message Dasgupta has for those who want to try this trend is to evaluate them for obstructive sleep apnea.
“There are also many other snoring treatment options besides mouth patches such as nasal strips, nasal dilators, and mouth, throat, and tongue exercises,” she continues.
Dasgupta also argues that the “mouth taping” trend may not be helping people sleep better.
