Mouth Taping for Asthma?

Mouth Taping for Asthma?

Except during aerobic exercises, we should ideally breathe only through our nose. Nose breathing ensures that inspired air is warm, filtered and moist which in theory may help patients with asthma. Nose breathing is an essential component of Buteyko breathing, so much so that they even suggest mouth taping to discourage habitual over-breathing.

However, this 2009 RCT concluded that taping the mouth at night for 2-weeks had no significant effect on asthma control.

Anecdotally, I have found mouth taping effective in encouraging nose breathing in my over-breathing patients with hypocapnia. I have also had one person report of better sleep and less snoring when wearing the tape at night.

Note: Use a paper tape, and fold the edges to allow easy removal ?try taping for a few minutes, it?s more tolerable than you?d expect! Blocked nostrils are of course a big limiting factor to this technique.

Posted on: January 26, 2010

Categories: Modalities / Meds / Supplements