He wāhi tare tēnei pūrongo o tā Puna hinonga hihira-meka, Te Tikanga Katoa – The Whole Truth. E oti i a koe te pānui i te roanga atu o ā mātou hihiratanga-meka ki konei. This reporting is part of Stuff’s fact-checking project, The Whole Truth – Te Tikanga Katoa. You can read the rest of our fact-checks here. Read this story in English here. Kua hau ngā rongo o te tikanga kia “tēpa i te waha” i ngā pae pāpori. E pēnā ana tōna hanga: ka meinga te tēpa hauora ki ō ngutu e akiākina ai te whai hā mā te ihu. The trend of “mouth taping” at bedtime has taken off on social media. It is what it sounds like: using medical tape over your lips to encourage breathing through your nose. E hia nei ngā kiriata ki TikTok e mea ana ngā tini painga hauora, ā, he piritau motuhake hoki – ko ētahi e whakatairanga atu ana ki ngā tamariki – e hoko atu ana ā-tuihono. There are countless videos on TikTok claiming all kinds of health benefits, and special sticky patches – some even marketed for use on children – for sale online. E mōhiotia nei te painga ake me te kaha o te whai hā ā-ihu i te whai hā ā-waha. Hei aha te hihiratia o tērā meka. Engari, mēnā koe e whai hā ana ā-waha – ka pahika rānei i te tēpa? It’s known breathing through your nose as opposed to your mouth is a more efficient and effective way to breathe. We don’t need to fact-check that. But if you’re a mouth breather – can taping help? Kua rorotu haere ngā kōrero mō te whai hā ā-ihu i ngā tau tata, ā, he pukapuka nā ngā mātanga me ngā pūkenga e kōrero ana mō ngā painga. There’s been increasing interest in nasal breathing in recent years, with high-profile books and experts touting the benefits. Ko tā te pukapuka a te kairīpoata nō Amerika James Nestor i te 2020, Breathe: The New Science of a Lost Art, he honohono i te hauora me te āhuatanga whai hā, ā, i koni atu i te kotahi miriona ngā tāruatanga i hokona atu i te tau tuatahi o te whakaputanga, nā konā i māori ai te tēpa i te waha. United States journalist James Nestor’s 2020 book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, about links between wellness and breathing technique, sold more than one million copies in its first year of publication and helped mouth taping go mainstream. He aha te raru? | What’s the issue?
Ngā kitenga | What we found
He kaihapahapai te ahorangi mātai koiora ioio nō Stanford University Andrew Huberman o te whai hā ā-ihu, ā, he pāhorangi rorotu tāna, he tokomaha āna pononga i te pae pāpori.
Stanford University neurobiology professor Andrew Huberman, who has a popular podcast and large social media following, is also a big proponent of nasal breathing.
Inā rā hoki a Kourtney Kardashian e āmiki kōrero ana mō tāna “whakahaumanu arero” i tika ai ngā tikanga whai hā.
Even Kourtney Kardashian has shared details of her “tongue therapy routine” to address breathing habits.
E mōhiotia nei te painga ake me te kaha o te whai hā ā-ihu i te whai hā ā-waha, i te nuinga o te wā.
Engari kāore i te tino mōhio mēnā rānei tātou e taea noa te whakangungu i a tātou anō kia tika ai te whainga hā, ina koa me he raru hauora kē atu.
But it’s unclear whether we can simply train ourselves to breathe correctly, especially if there are underlying medical issues at play.
Kāti, mō te tēpa i te waha? Hāunga ngā pahupahu, he iti noa ngā taunakitanga mō ōna painga. Arā hoki ngā mātanga e kī ana he tūponotanga mōreareatanga.
And as for mouth taping? Beyond anecdotes, there’s little to back up its benefits. And experts warn it’s potentially dangerous.
Tērā ētahi whakamātaunga iti kua hihira i te whakawhāitihia o te ngongoro i ngā tāngata kua pāngia e ngā āhuatanga moenga, pēnei i te raru whai hā ā-moe – te raro pōtehetehe o te aukati o tāu whai hā i a koe e moe ana.
A couple of small trials have looked at whether it can alleviate snoring in people with pre-existing sleep conditions such as obstructive sleep apnea – where you stop breathing for short periods of time while you are asleep.
E ai ki tētahi i pai ake te ngongoro me te raru whai hā ā-moe i te tēpa i te waha. I whakatau tētahi anō ka whai hua pea i tētahi piritau ā-waha pōareare e whakahaumanutia ai ngā tūroro kua āhua pāngia e te raru whai hā ā-moe.
One found mouth-taping during sleep improved snoring and the severity of sleep apnoea. Another concluded a porous oral patch could be a useful device to treat patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea.
Engari e ai ki te kaihautū hauora o New Zealand Sleep Well Clinic Tākuta Alex Bartle, e tinga ana, mā te tēpa i te waha e ngāwari noa iho te oro o te ngongoro.
But New Zealand Sleep Well Clinic medical director Dr Alex Bartle says it’s likely taping just makes snoring less noisy.
“Kei te ngongoro tonu koe, ko tāu noa he ngongoro mā te ihu, ā, e ngāwari ake nei te oro i tērā ka puta i tō waha. E kore te raru e tika i te tēpa i tō waha.”
“You’re still snoring, you’re just snoring through your nose, which doesn’t make as much noise as snoring through your mouth. Taping your mouth doesn’t stop the problem.”
Kua ahu mai ngā whanonga whai hā i te taitamarikitanga, ā, koia hoki te wā e tika ana kia whakahaumanutia e te mātanga o te taringa, te ihu, me te korokoro (ENT), te kī a Bartle. “Mēnā te tamaiti e kaha whai hā ana ā-waha, e tinga ana ka pēnā tonu ia hei te pakeketanga.”
Breathing habits often start in childhood and ideally that’s when they should be addressed by an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist, Bartle says. “If a child is often mouth breathing, they’re likely to continue to be mouth breathers as adults.”
He rahi nō te waitinana, te miramira rānei, tāna i āpiti ai. Ki te waiho, ka raru te whanaketanga o te hanga o tō te tamaiti kanohi i te whai hā ā-waha, hei tāna.
Enlarged adenoids or tonsils can be to blame, he adds. Left unchecked, long-term mouth breathing can affect the development of a child’s facial structure, he says.
Kāore e kore, e “mōrearea kino” nei pea whakapiringa i te tēpa ki te waha o te tamaiti, te pēpi rānei.
It should go without saying, but putting tape over the mouth of a child or baby is potentially “very dangerous”.
Hei tā Ahorangi Dawn Elder, te tumu o tō Ōtākou Whakaihuwaka ki Pōneke Kura o te Arotamariki me te Hauora Tamariki, te aro ai ki te rangahau mō te whai hā me te moe, ki te kore te ara hā ā-ihu e pai, ka whai hā kē koe mā te waha – “i ngā wā katoa, i ētahi wā rānei”.
Professor Dawn Elder, head of University of Otago, Wellington’s Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, with a research focus in the area of sleep and breathing, says if you don’t have a good nasal airway, you’ll breathe through your mouth – “either all of the time or some of the time”.
“Mēnā te pēpi e whai hā ana mā tōna waha i te nuinga o te wā, kua pēnā tā te mea kāore te ara hā e tino pai,” te kī a Dawn. “Nā konā, kāore i te pai te whakapiri i te tēpa ki te waha.”
“If a baby is breathing through their mouth most of the time then it is because the nasal airway is not optimal,” Elder says. “It is therefore not a good idea to put tape on the mouth.”
Engari kē ia, me whai i ngā whakamāherehere hauora, me whai i te take kāore te ihu e ora pai ana, pēnei i tāna e taea nei.
Instead, seek medical advice to try and work out why the nose isn’t working as well as it should be.
Arā te tākuta pokanga ENT nō Ahitereiria, Tākuta David McIntosh, he pūmanawa tōna mō ngā matenga moenga me ngā ārai ara hā, kua tauākītia tūmatanuitia te raru: “Kei meinga te tēpa i te waha ā mua i tā te tangata toro atu ki te tākuta mō te taringa, te ihu, me te korokoro.”
Australian ENT surgeon Dr David McIntosh, who has a special interest in sleep disorders and airway obstruction, has publicly addressed the issue: “Mouth taping shouldn’t even be a thing before someone has seen an ear, nose and throat doctor.”
Mā te tono i te tangata me ōna ārai ā-ihu ki te whai hā mā te ihu – me te korenga ōu e whakatika i te pūtake – ka kino kē atu pea te āraitanga, hei tāna.
Forcing someone with a nasal obstruction to breathe through their nose – without addressing the underlying issues – will potentially worsen the obstruction, he says.
Hei whakatepe | In summary
Mēnā koe e raru ana i te whai hā mā tō ihu, e hirahira ana te whakatika i te pūtake o te raru.
If you’re consistently struggling to breathe through your nose, it’s important to get to the root of the problem.
Kei tēpa i tō waha, me toro kē koe ki te tākuta.
Rather than taping your mouth, see a doctor.
He tauākī whakamōhio ā-pūrongo: Kua tuhia tēnei kōrero nā runga anō i ngā whakamāherehere mātanga a te kaihautū hauora o New Zealand Sleep Well Clinic Tākuta Alex Bartle, rātou ko te mātanga arotamariki Ahorangi Dawn Elder, ko te perehetini o te New Zealand Association of Orthodontists Peter Dysart.
Reporting disclosure statement: This post was written with expert advice from New Zealand Sleep Well Clinic medical director Dr Alex Bartle, paediatrician Professor Dawn Elder and New Zealand Association of Orthodontists president, Peter Dysart.
He mea whakamāori e te Kaihautū Reo Māori ki Puna, e Taurapa.
Translation by Stuff Kaihautū Reo Māori Taurapa.