TikTok兴起“胶带封嘴挑战”：一场伪科学的狂欢？

TIKTOK //

Mouth breathing can lead to snoring and excessive thirst at night, as well as dry mouth and bad breath in the morning. Over time, breathing this way is linked to gum disease and malocclusion, where the upper and lower teeth don’t align.

“口呼吸”这种呼吸方式，会引发晚上打鼾和过度口渴，还会带来早上的口干和口臭。久而久之，这种呼吸方式会导致牙龈疾病和牙齿咬合错位，也就是上下牙不整齐。

In childhood, when the tendency to breathe via the mouth often starts, the condition can lead the child to develop a “mouth breathing face” — a narrowed face with receding chin or jaw. Children are also at risk for developing obstructive sleep apnea, which has been linked to learning difficulties and behavioral problems in childhood.

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Recently, the social media platform TikTok has helped spread a potentially dangerous idea: taping your lips shut to stop mouth breathing at night.

最近，一个具有潜在危险性的点子在TikTok上广为流传：晚上睡觉的时候用胶带封住嘴，以此避免口呼吸。

People would tape their mouth before they went to sleep. People thought they were sleeping better because it prevented them from opening their mouth, and somehow or another made them sleep better because they were forced to breathe through their nose.

人们会在睡觉前用胶带封住自己的嘴，以完成这项“胶带封嘴”挑战。挑战者认为这样做可以让自己睡得更好，因为它阻止了嘴巴的张开，进而迫使用鼻子呼吸。

But before you reach for that tape, be aware that many medical providers, believe the risks of mouth taping far outweigh the benefits.

但在你拿起胶带之前，要知道，许多医护人员都认为，用胶带封嘴的风险远大于好处。

Despite the downsides of painfully losing facial hair or damaging soft tissue around the mouth, Yet none of the TikTok videos CNN viewed mentioned the practice might be harmful in any way. One TikTok video recommends “regular old paper tape.”One young woman even touts the benefits of beauty sleep as the reason to imprison her lips each night.

即使胶带封嘴还另有极多坏处，如被拔掉唇毛的痛感和对唇周软组织的损害），但在目前CNN调查过的抖音视频中，还没有任何一条提到过这种做法的潜在危险。有一则抖音视频仍然还在力荐“普通的那种纸胶带”；而另一位年轻女士甚至把“睡美容觉”吹嘘成胶带封嘴的理由。

All of this could be written off as silly, except one video appears to breed another as people pick up the challenge and someone couldn’t even recall why he or she started taping her mouth at night. “Truth be told, I don’t know. I saw on TikTok and I can’t remember what the benefits were. ”

“There is limited evidence on the benefits of mouth taping and You should be very careful — and even talk to your health care provider before attempting it. But f you have obstructive sleep apnea, yes, this can be very dangerous.” said sleep specialist Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

睡眠专家 Raj Dasgupta是南加州大学凯克医学中心的临床医学副教授。他说：“‘胶带封嘴’的有效性目前还缺乏考证，如果真要尝试，可以先去问问自己的健康顾问，还是小心谨慎为好；如果患有阻塞性睡眠呼吸暂停综合征，用胶带封嘴会很危险。”

Overall, the “most important message” is to first be evaluated for sleep apnea before you try sleeping with your mouth taped, Dasgupta said. Avoid sleeping on your back as well, a position that encourages the mouth to fall open and the tongue to fall back into the throat. Pushing air past that blockage is what causes snoring.

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