Intake Breathing Nasal Strips
My friend Shreyas told me about these nasal strips the other day. I'm quite the snorer, so I thought I'd give them a crack.
They arrive in a nice box, inside of which are four of the actual plastic strips with the magnets on them and two containers with nostril stickers on the that have metallic portions on them so that the magnets on the strips attach to them.
I've used the strips you can buy in Walgreens/CVS before but they're a bit flimsy and don't really do much for me. These are a lot more sturdy. So they've got that going for them.
However, getting them on is a harder task because there are two components (the nostril stickers and the band) and the two have to align. The instructions advise you to use the applicator device (a cylinder with a magnet) to apply this to your own nose but it would be neat if I could just attach it to the strip and press down. Regardless, I had much better accuracy when Julie stuck it on my face than when I attempted it myself.
Results
Well, did it work? It did make breathing a lot easier. When I don't have the strip on and I inhale, I can feel the outsides of my nose collapse inward and my breaths through the nose have a sound like air going through a constriction. With the strip on, it's much smoother and I do feel like I get more air.
The downside is that sometimes I feel itchy under the stickers and then I'm stuck with a sticker which is effectively a dollar a piece.
Night Zero
The first night, I slept completely through the night and the next morning Julie told me that she didn't hear me snoring. Sometimes she's sound asleep and doesn't hear me, though, so that doesn't mean much.
I wore it with one of the other strips to Barry's Bootcamp that day and honestly it was pretty decent. They do reference sports but advise you to wipe down the strip after because it will degrade.
Night One
The next night, I wore it again, but this time I scraped it off my face some time during the night because I rolled over onto my stomach and rubbed my face on my pillow. Julie did mention my snoring that morning, but she also said that the strip was off when I woke up.
Night Two
This time I wore it during the night, but I woke up early in the morning with an itchy nose and apparently my sleepy self didn't have much ability to self-regulate because I took it off and then scraped off the magnet on the left side of my nose. Julie said I snored.
Night Three
Did it perfectly this time, I reckon, but Julie said I snored (perhaps lighter than usual but I did). I still had the sound of inhaling through a constriction if I breathed in. All through my right nostril. I wore it the whole day and it was quite nice but after about 8 working hours it got a bit itchy.
