Snoring: It’s more harmful than you think.
The writer of this blog is snoring at night.
My family says that my snoring is “the sound like Godzilla or a dinosaur”. Especially when I’ve been drinking heavily, my snoring is so loud and they think I’m disturbing our neighbors.
I’m not aware that I’m snoring at all, so I can simply answer, “Oh, I see.”, but for my family members sleeping next to me, it is a big problem.
When my family wakes up in the middle of the night, the author is snoring loudly. Then my family members can no longer sleep. They pinch my nose or poke my body like the picture above, and the snoring seems to stop at that time, but they still can’t sleep because I start snoring right away.
How to Stop Snoring: Anti-Snoring Measures
Then, I tried various anti-snoring products. There were supplements, deep throat sprays, tapes to widen the nasal cavity, tapes to cover my mouth, etc.
My family said, “All of them have a certain effect”.
If so, I have to consider the running costs. Since I’m snoring every day and I’m using it every day, the cheaper the better.
Then, I tried to create the tape.
I thought I could make my own tape to cover my mouth. So I created the tape through a lot of trial and error. Here, I would like to let you know the way of creating the tape I recommend.
All you need is kinesiology tape and scissors.
I use Pip Kinesiology Tape, “Comfortable Breathable” series 37.5 mm wide. You can use tape from other companies, but it must be the “elastic (*1)” and “stick to your skin”.
All lengths are just example (it doesn’t have to be the same).
(1) Cut the tape at 7 cm (70 mm).
(2) Split it vertically into two pieces.
One divided piece is for one time.
(3) Like the picture below, make a cut 1/4 of the width of the tape.
(4) Turn the tape over and peel off the protective film on the adhesive side.
(5) Fold the parts between the incisions toward you.
The adhesive side is A and B. Stick the part A under the nose and the part B on the chin. The folded part is not sticky. If I didn’t fold it (if it was sticky), the I feel like something sticky stuff is on my lips and I couldn’t sleep.
(6) Stick the created tape on your mouth.
The key is to stick the tape with the mouth normally closed and without pulling the tape.
The adhesive side should be sticked firmly on the skin, but if you pull and stick it, you will feel not good because my chin and nose are pulled.
It is just enough to allow the mouth to open slightly with a little force. Even if you have a stuffy nose while sleeping, you can easily breathe through your mouth (*1). In short, your mouth should not open wide.
Although you can’t open your mouth widely with the tape, it does not mean that you can’t speak at all.
However, it will be difficult to yawn.
For the first few days, it was hard to sleep because it bothered me, but I continued to use it after a few days, I got used to it and was able to sleep normally.
What about the running costs?
It took 753 yen on Amazon to buy the tape (3.75mm x 4.5m). Based on the length of the tape, it will take 5.88 yen per use, which is cheaper than commercially available anti-snoring tapes. If you can find cheaper tape, you may be able to get it even more cheaper.
Although you need time and effort to create it, once you get used to it, it takes less than a minutes to create it, so it’s not hard to do.
Lastly…
I’ve been using this taping every day for more than a month and have had no problems so far. This is not the original purpose of taping, so if you want to try it, you’ll need to take full responsibility for your action. If you buy the tape now, if it does not suit you, the rest of the taping will just become garbage. I think it’s a good idea to start with commercially anti-snoring tape.
Also, please note that this will only reduce your snoring, not eliminate it completely. My family says, “The dinosaurs are gone, but a little bear has come”. Still, my family says it has helped a lot, this is Okay.
If you have skin problems where the adhesive surface comes in contact with your skin, you should avoid using this product. Also, if you have a skin rash, you should not force yourself to continue.
Added on April 13th, 2018 (*1)
After purchasing several kinds of anti-snoring mouth tapes, I found out this kind of tape seems to have the purpose of not only “preventing snoring” but also “preventing throat dryness caused by mouth breathing”.
Considering the prevention of throat dryness, the “elastic taping” introduced in this blog is not suitable, and “non-stretchable taping” might be better.
