After what felt like endless days of congestion this spring, junior Mo Iyi-Ojo decided it was time to visit the doctor. Mo has had allergies all his life but had been experiencing heightened symptoms. This time, the doctor recommended to him an unfamiliar form of congestion relief: breathing strips.
Breathing strips are sticky patches that stick to each side of the nose, widening the nostrils for easier airflow. The strips are commonly applied to mend colds and relieve stuffy noses as well as promote sleep.
Some people, including some U-High students, have expanded beyond the description on the box, using breathing strips to enhance sports play.
Mo has been using these strips for six months after his doctor’s suggestion. He has applied breathing strips to other aspects of his health as well, especially in soccer and sleep.
“I get less congestion, and I breathe so much better through my nose,” Mo said, “and it helps a lot when I’m running because you are supposed to breathe through your nose anyway.”
Mo recommends others to try them due to the amount of help he received from the strips
“There’s no cons to it really, only pros,” Mo said.
Ninth grader Olive Bracken Sáenz has been using breathing strips since the pandemic when her father lent some to her when she had a cold.
Olive has since used these strips whenever she is sick, to help her congestion.
“They allow me to breathe better at night, and not have to breathe through my mouth when I’m sick, which is hard,” Olive said. “When I have colds I breathe through my mouth because my nose is so stuffy, and they clear up my nose.”
Olive recommends breathing strips to anyone experiencing a cold, especially as an easy and convenient solution to cold symptoms.
“I feel like they are an efficient way to clear your nose and they don’t cost a lot, and they’re really simple to use,” Olive said. “You just put them on at night, and they make your experience better.”
While Olive now advises others to use them, she was hesitant to try breathing strips, and did not think her experience was going to be as successful as it was.
“I didn’t expect them to work, but they actually did work pretty well. I could almost breathe 10 times better through my nose,” Olive said.
Senior Nyel Khan’s doctor also recommended using breathing strips. Nyel has used them on and off to maintain more restful sleep.
“I think you don’t realize like how good it feels to actually properly breathe through your nose until you try breathing strips or something like that,” Nyel said. “Even when I am not actually sick, it still feels, like, a lot clearer.”
Besides the uses of sleep, sport and congestion relief, Nyel has also seen them promoted on TikTok for sharpening one’s jawline.
“I see all the people in the TikTok shop, who get the paid commission,” he said. “They also say to do mouth taping, and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna help you get a better jawline and stuff.”
There is no scientific evidence to show that mouth taping improves a jawline or facial features.
Whether people are experiencing endless days of congestion, sleepless nights, or difficulty running, breathing strips are remedies that open up the nostrils and the possibilities of a higher-quality lifestyle.
