1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,560
Are you sleeping a full seven to nine hours a night?

2
00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:08,040
Probably if you're not on shift, if you're a firefighter, but still waking up feeling

3
00:00:08,040 --> 00:00:10,800
less than refreshed.

4
00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:14,800
Do you toss and turn at night or wake up with a dry mouth every single time you wake up

5
00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,000
even from naps?

6
00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:23,080
Have you ever gotten smacked because you snore too loud or you're keeping your partner or

7
00:00:23,080 --> 00:00:27,000
bedmate up at night because you snore too much?

8
00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:33,360
Have you ever taken some heat for snoring too loudly at the firehouse?

9
00:00:33,360 --> 00:00:36,920
A simple solution might be all you need, so stick around and find out how a little piece

10
00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:44,760
of tape might actually increase your rest and your overall longevity and livelihood.

11
00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,160
Welcome to the Firefighter Craftsmanship Podcast where we coach you to deal with the stressors

12
00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:52,720
of the job as a first responder as well as how to thrive off duty.

13
00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:57,400
My name is Kevin Housley, a Human Performance Coach and a firefighter since 2005.

14
00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,760
I've been able to coach over a thousand emergency responders on ways to be more resilient, better

15
00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,600
prepared for the job, and how to be happier and healthier at home.

16
00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:11,680
So let's get to it and start optimizing your sleep.

17
00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:16,440
So today's topic, we're going to call it Tape It Up, but if you don't know by now,

18
00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:20,520
sleep is a foundation to ultimate human performance.

19
00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,360
And when we combine quality sleep with quality respiration, we can really level up our game

20
00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:26,640
both on and off the job.

21
00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:31,240
We've talked a little bit about respiration on this podcast throughout, so go back and

22
00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,120
check out some previous episodes specifically.

23
00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:42,720
Episode 26 titled Using Your Breath for Relaxation and a Box Breathing Technique.

24
00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,480
So some really, really good stuff in there and easy to implement protocols on using

25
00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:54,480
respiration to help you down-regulate and up your overall game, increasing your happiness,

26
00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:56,440
etc.

27
00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,440
So in this episode of the Firefighter Craspmanship podcast, we're going to talk about mouth tape

28
00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:05,000
while sleeping and give a surface overview of why this might be a key to help you get

29
00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,440
better rest and recover more efficiently.

30
00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,240
So when we talk about mouth tape or taping your mouth while you sleep, the instant reaction

31
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,400
for a lot of people is you basically want me to tape my mouth shut and die like I'm

32
00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,760
a hostage or something.

33
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,120
And no, that is absolutely not what we're talking about.

34
00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,400
We're not talking about like wrapping tape around your head.

35
00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:35,400
We're not talking about using duct tape or smelling a rag like an old spy movie or something

36
00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:36,400
like that.

37
00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:37,760
So we're not talking about that at all.

38
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:44,840
So let's get into kind of what mouth tape means, how it might be an option for you.

39
00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:50,840
And I think a good disclaimer is, is I'm not a physician and I am not a sleep doctor.

40
00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,800
So talk to your primary medical provider about this.

41
00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:59,680
And we're going to talk about maybe referring to a sleep specialist here in a second, but

42
00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:03,560
this is not construed as medical advice.

43
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:08,440
So take what we have here, dive into some of the research that we have provided in the

44
00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:15,720
show notes, do your own research, figure out what's going to work for you, how these techniques

45
00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,920
may or may not help you and level up your game.

46
00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:25,680
Because all of this stuff is 100% customizable and it's 100% personalized to you, whether

47
00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:30,720
we're talking about human performance psychology, we're talking about tactical fitness or today

48
00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,920
we're talking about sleep.

49
00:03:32,920 --> 00:03:38,120
And this episode, tape it up is going to actually kick off a sleep series that we're going to

50
00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,520
do here on the firefighter craftsmanship.

51
00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:44,760
So the next few episodes that we're going to do is going to be all around sleep and

52
00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:51,240
how we can educate ourselves around sleep, optimize our sleep and have some other tools

53
00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,040
and resources and interventions that maybe will help us with sleep.

54
00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,600
The first one being potentially mouth tape.

55
00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,880
So there are a couple of fantastic books out there that dive into different aspects of

56
00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:07,760
health, breath and sleep, tons and tons and tons of resources on health for sure.

57
00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:14,480
A few really good resources of why we sleep book by Dr. Matthew Walker is an amazing resource

58
00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,200
that I highly recommend you check that out.

59
00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:23,960
And then a few really, really good books that are out there regarding breath and why respiration

60
00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:26,720
matters and how we breathe matters.

61
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:31,840
But really the first book that I want to talk about is called JAWS, the story of a hidden

62
00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:35,560
epidemic written by Conn and Ehrlich.

63
00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:39,400
And this really was the first book that kind of brought the concept of mouth taping while

64
00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:41,760
sleeping to the forefront.

65
00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:45,880
And this book was written by a professional author and an orthodontist.

66
00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:53,200
And really the basis of it was they were looking at why do most adolescents or kids these days

67
00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:57,640
need orthodontic work and why do they need braces?

68
00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,960
Because historically that wasn't the case.

69
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:06,160
And so when they looked at different skulls from all over the world, they noticed that

70
00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,920
you know, different tribes and different facial structures, different cultures, things like

71
00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:17,400
that, they all had the exact same style of bone, facial structures, they had the square

72
00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:21,920
jaw, they didn't have the narrowing face and things like we see today.

73
00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:25,480
And so that was really kind of the foundation of the book.

74
00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,360
Really really good resource linked to the show notes for a link to Amazon to purchase

75
00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,400
that book if you're interested, but definitely worth your time and energy to kind of read

76
00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:39,000
that, especially if you have children and want to set them up for success and potentially

77
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:44,160
want to save yourself a ton of money in orthodontic work.

78
00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:49,080
But this was kind of that first book that talked about mouth taping and it really kind

79
00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:55,280
of brought it to the forefront out of the shadows of things like breathwork.

80
00:05:55,280 --> 00:06:00,680
But really this, you know, the technique that they talk about in JAWS specifically was the

81
00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:06,200
Boteko technique, which was developed by a Russian scientist in the 1950s, and ultimately

82
00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,880
was brought to the United Kingdom and Australia in the 1990s.

83
00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:12,320
So it's really not that old.

84
00:06:12,320 --> 00:06:16,960
And it has gained the Boteko technique specifically has gained a lot of positive momentum in the

85
00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:23,600
last few years, mainly because of the amazing work and effort of Patrick McCown and Irishman,

86
00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:31,120
who is now widely taught and he has the oxygen advantage and the Boteko Institute and some

87
00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,200
other really, really great resources out there that have some paid content as well as some

88
00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,360
free content.

89
00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:43,800
But McCown's work has really, really kind of transformed a lot of the barriers to entry

90
00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:48,600
to breathwork and they've really kind of de stigmatized some of these things for ultimate

91
00:06:48,600 --> 00:06:51,040
human performance.

92
00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,040
A lot of his techniques and Boteko specifically is widely taught and followed set of breathing

93
00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:01,000
protocols that now across the world is not certainly limited to Russia or the United

94
00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:03,600
Kingdom or Australia anymore.

95
00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:08,160
But even more recently, there was a book written by James Nestor, which a lot of you have probably

96
00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:14,600
read titled Breath, the new science of a lost art.

97
00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:21,480
And he talks extensively about mouth tape and sleep and especially nasal respiration

98
00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:26,560
versus mouth respiration and the impacts of that and all these other different breathing

99
00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:29,320
protocols and techniques throughout.

100
00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:34,760
But one of those that got a lot of airtime, a lot of press really kind of brought it into

101
00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:39,120
the forefront where you might even be able to call it a fad was this whole tape your

102
00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:41,640
mouth while you're asleep.

103
00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:47,040
And so the book by James Nestor, Breath is an absolute must read.

104
00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:50,680
If you're into trying to figure out ultimate human performance, if you're into anything

105
00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:56,720
in relation to breath, but I'd also heavily encourage you to read that book, JAWS, as well

106
00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:02,200
as any book written by Patrick McCown and the Oxygen Advantage crew.

107
00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:06,320
So all very, very good resources and all linked in the show notes for you.

108
00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:08,680
So you don't have to look them up on your own.

109
00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:12,280
All right, so let's get into how does this thing work?

110
00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:13,960
So what is it matter?

111
00:08:13,960 --> 00:08:16,440
Why would I tape my mouth when I'm asleep?

112
00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:19,880
Am I going to suffocate and die?

113
00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:25,720
And really the fact of the matter is sleep should be the optimal time of rest and digest

114
00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,160
and parasympathetic nervous system activation.

115
00:08:29,160 --> 00:08:34,400
So remember in the autonomic nervous system, we have the sympathetic nervous system, which

116
00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,120
is more often than not called the fight or flight.

117
00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,600
And we have the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the rest and digest.

118
00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:48,240
So when we're asleep, the whole reason that we're doing that is to rest, recover, recharge,

119
00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,120
rejuvenate.

120
00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,960
So we want to be as parasympathetic as we possibly can.

121
00:08:53,960 --> 00:08:57,920
And we know that optimal amount of sleep that we should be shooting for to get every single

122
00:08:57,920 --> 00:08:58,920
night.

123
00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:02,600
And I understand when we're on shift, we can't control those things.

124
00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,480
That's not what I'm talking about.

125
00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,600
We can control on shift though, if you're in the fire service, if you stay up till two

126
00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:15,120
o'clock in the morning watching a movie versus going to bed, or if you're like, well, we're

127
00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:16,840
probably going to be really busy tonight.

128
00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:22,360
So I'm going to just stay up and drink 19 monsters and four Red Bulls.

129
00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:25,480
And then something happens, the universal lines.

130
00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,160
And you actually would have gotten a really quality night of sleep.

131
00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:32,120
So there are a lot of controlables that you can control that have nothing to do when somebody

132
00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,320
calls 911 for response.

133
00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:39,560
You can control most of those things when you're not at work.

134
00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:43,640
And we've talked about this previously on the podcast where, yes, if you have young children,

135
00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:49,080
if you have a baby, an infant at home, there are things that happen at home where you're

136
00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,040
going to maybe have interrupted sleep.

137
00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,920
But for the most part, you can control those controlables when you're not on duty and you

138
00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:02,680
can shoot for that seven to nine hours of optimal sleep every single night.

139
00:10:02,680 --> 00:10:07,760
But can we get that seven to nine hours and still feel like we are not rested?

140
00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,520
And not because you're trying to catch up on sleep debt, but man, I've been sleeping

141
00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:12,520
really, really well.

142
00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:17,680
Maybe I've even had some vacation and I still wake up feeling really tired.

143
00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:23,000
And you need to start to listen to that, that's your body telling you something of, hey, there's

144
00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,360
something else going on for sure.

145
00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:30,600
And we want to make sure that when we are asleep that we have that optimal parasympathetic

146
00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:33,040
nervous system activation.

147
00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:38,000
And one of the easiest ways that we can do that is by simply breathing through our nose.

148
00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:42,320
And so that's kind of where that whole like, hey, just take a deep breath when somebody's

149
00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:50,040
trying to tell you to calm down, that should be, hey, take a deep breath through your nose.

150
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:53,840
Because nasal breathing triggers the vagus nerve.

151
00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:58,000
It triggers that parasympathetic response, which means that my heart rate lowers, my

152
00:10:58,000 --> 00:10:59,920
respiration rate lowers.

153
00:10:59,920 --> 00:11:06,440
I have cognitive clearing of my mind and I can start to process information a little

154
00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:12,160
bit better if I'm a little bit more parasympathetic than I am sympathetic from not so amped up.

155
00:11:12,160 --> 00:11:18,600
Now, if we breathe through our mouth, just simply breathing through our mouth, it triggers

156
00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:20,280
a sympathetic response.

157
00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:25,760
So it elevates our heart rate, it elevates our respiration rate, it dehydrates us.

158
00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:29,480
So if you're hanging out most of the time and you're just chilling and you're finding

159
00:11:29,480 --> 00:11:34,760
yourself breathing through your mouth up most of the time, you really, really need to start

160
00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:39,960
to work to try to transition that to nasal breathing if at all possible.

161
00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:45,920
And I can hear the excuses already of, well, I have a deviated septum or whatever.

162
00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:50,360
And yes, some people have issues with their facial structure that they're going to have

163
00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:56,360
a really, really hard time being nasal breathers for the most part of the time.

164
00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,160
But I have a deviated septum as well.

165
00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:02,960
It's about 75% occlusion on one side.

166
00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:05,880
And you can train around that stuff.

167
00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:10,680
It is not a barrier to entry to be able to breathe through your nose at rest, to breathe

168
00:12:10,680 --> 00:12:17,080
through your nose at sleep, even to breathe through your nose while you're doing work.

169
00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:22,320
More to come on mouth versus nose breathing for sure on the firefighter craftsmanship

170
00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:23,320
podcast.

171
00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,720
But the fact of the matter is, is when we breathe through our mouth, we trigger a fight

172
00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:32,680
or flight response, a sympathetic nervous system response, and we become a little bit

173
00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:34,680
more amped.

174
00:12:34,680 --> 00:12:39,680
So if I'm breathing through my mouth while I'm asleep, I'm working against myself to

175
00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:49,040
get the optimal rest and recovery that I can possibly get just solely by how I'm breathing.

176
00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:54,880
So when we look at taping your mouth, this is kind of that foundation of where that is

177
00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:59,280
initially coming from from the botaco method of, Hey, if I'm breathing through my mouth,

178
00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:06,160
I'm creating fight or flight response, I'm creating stress, I'm creating unnecessary anxiety,

179
00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:10,400
and now I'm doing it while I'm asleep when I should have no anxiety and the ultimate

180
00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:11,960
rest.

181
00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:18,000
That's kind of where I starting to say, Hey, maybe if I breathe through my nose specifically,

182
00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,320
and I might need some sort of apparatus to help me with that.

183
00:13:21,320 --> 00:13:27,800
And there's lots of different products available out there where jaw slings and all this stuff

184
00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:33,000
that help you breathe through your nose specifically, but you can accomplish that by a really, really

185
00:13:33,000 --> 00:13:40,800
small piece of microfiber tape that's just acting as a reminder to close our mouth.

186
00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:45,200
Now for some of us, we may snore quite a bit.

187
00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:49,960
And more than likely when you're snoring, your mouth is open.

188
00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:53,560
Now snoring can can be related to a lot of different things.

189
00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:59,400
And so if you have a crewmate who's complaining that you snore too much, or you have somebody

190
00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,440
in your household that's complaining that you snore too much, or they're sleeping in

191
00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:07,040
another room because you snore so loud, that is absolutely something that you should go

192
00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,320
talk to your primary care doc about.

193
00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:14,520
And ultimately probably get a sleep study done to see if you're just snoring because

194
00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:17,480
of tongue position.

195
00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:22,200
That's something maybe that can easily be rectified, or do you have various levels of

196
00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,760
obstructive sleep apnea?

197
00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:28,080
And we're not going to dive into sleep apnea in this at all.

198
00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,200
Hopefully at some point we can talk to a sleep specialist specifically, a sleep doctor,

199
00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:37,160
and they can really kind of dive into sleep apnea and what those different levels of sleep

200
00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,120
apnea are.

201
00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:45,000
But a lot of times obstructive sleep apnea is and snoring is due to just tongue being

202
00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:50,380
out of position and falling back and including part of the airway.

203
00:14:50,380 --> 00:14:54,040
And so this can really be tied to mouth breathing during sleep.

204
00:14:54,040 --> 00:15:00,440
But again, it can also be a sign of that something is much more dramatic that has serious health

205
00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,460
implications in relation to sleep apnea.

206
00:15:03,460 --> 00:15:11,160
So if you snore, get a sleep study done if at all humanly possible.

207
00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:18,820
So there's been a really couple of good studies specific to firefighters about sleep apnea.

208
00:15:18,820 --> 00:15:24,120
And there's a study called randomized prospective study of the impact of a sleep health program

209
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:29,400
on firefighter injury and disability, which was conducted in 2017.

210
00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,440
So not that long ago.

211
00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:37,280
And from that survey, they found, quote, our national survey of nearly 7,000 firefighters

212
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:44,440
conducted across 66 fire departments found that 37% of active firefighters were at risk

213
00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:50,680
of a primary sleep disorder when assessed using validated questionnaires, particularly

214
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:54,200
obstructive sleep apnea.

215
00:15:54,200 --> 00:16:01,840
And so for those most of those sleep disorders is what they're referring to most of whom

216
00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:07,160
81% were undiagnosed.

217
00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:12,560
So if you know, if they had some sort of sleep disorder, whether it's obstructive sleep apnea

218
00:16:12,560 --> 00:16:22,240
or some other sleep disorder, 81% of those respondents out of the 77% that had that risk,

219
00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,600
they had never been diagnosed.

220
00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:30,560
So right there is pretty good action and pretty good statistics to say, hey, you know, over

221
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:37,280
a third of us in the fire service specifically, just in the United States, we're at a risk

222
00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:39,800
of primary sleep disorder.

223
00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:46,240
And then 81% of those people, they had never talked to anybody about that they were completely

224
00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:47,360
clueless.

225
00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,720
So if you're waking up and you're feeling exhausted and not refreshed and dehydrated,

226
00:16:51,720 --> 00:16:59,720
you have cotton mouth, all those sorts of things, you're in one of those 81%.

227
00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:04,880
There's another article that was in gems titled relief for firefighters with sleep apnea.

228
00:17:04,880 --> 00:17:12,400
And that article is from 2010, where they said a quote, according to a 2007 report,

229
00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:17,320
the effects of sleep deprivation of firefighters and EMS workers by the International Association

230
00:17:17,320 --> 00:17:24,600
of Fire Chiefs states, firefighters who suffer from sleep apnea exhibit chronic daytime fatigue

231
00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:26,760
and decreased alertness.

232
00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:32,880
Those individuals with untreated sleep apnea are six times more likely to have a vehicle

233
00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,000
accident.

234
00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:40,400
So when we combine that with different shift schedules, things like long shift hours, mandatory

235
00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:46,640
overtime, things like that, where people aren't getting sleep, they have sleep deprivation,

236
00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,960
and they potentially have some sort of sleep disorder or full blown sleep apnea on top

237
00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:52,280
of it.

238
00:17:52,280 --> 00:17:57,640
We have a serious problem on our hands where we're jeopardizing not only our personal safety,

239
00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:02,360
but those that we work with, and ultimately the public as we're responding and driving

240
00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:03,360
around.

241
00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:08,440
So it's really, really important that you go when you talk to your primary care doc,

242
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:13,160
if you don't have a primary care doc, absolutely get one.

243
00:18:13,160 --> 00:18:19,480
Most of your insurance are going to cover it the very minimum one physical a year.

244
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:24,360
And so establish with a primary care doc and then start to have this sleep conversation

245
00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:26,200
with them.

246
00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:30,160
Realize however, a lot of doctors, especially if you go to a doctor that's been in the

247
00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:32,000
game a long time.

248
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:36,480
They have very little to know training on sleep.

249
00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:40,960
And so if they don't really know about sleep and they don't really know about sleep debt

250
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:46,600
and the impacts of sleep debt, especially for us in emergency response, then just kindly

251
00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:52,840
ask, Hey, would you be comfortable referring me to a specialist that will be covered by

252
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:57,640
my health insurance and just play the game that way a little bit to try to get this stuff

253
00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:58,640
covered.

254
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:03,520
All right, so there's a good long section about maybe why getting checked by an actual

255
00:19:03,520 --> 00:19:08,720
specialist is going to be really important for you, especially as you go from, you know,

256
00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,040
young and I can stay up for weeks at a time and it's never going to affect me and I'll

257
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:15,800
sleep when I did to, Oh, I really like this profession.

258
00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:21,000
I want to play the long game on this thing to, Hey, I have played the long game and now

259
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,320
I'm really trying to optimize my performance.

260
00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:28,620
And I really want to make sure that I'm looking starting to look towards the end of my career.

261
00:19:28,620 --> 00:19:31,360
And retire and happy, healthy and strong.

262
00:19:31,360 --> 00:19:36,320
And sleep is going to be a basic foundation for all of you, no matter where you are in

263
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:42,480
your career, no matter what your job is and whether you're in emergency services or not,

264
00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:47,080
it is the thing that we really need to be focused and extremely on.

265
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,160
And we need to start to change the narrative, not only within ourselves, but within our

266
00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:57,440
organizations on what does sleep mean, what does rest and recovery mean, and how does

267
00:19:57,440 --> 00:20:05,000
that relate with terms like laziness and work output and things like that.

268
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:08,760
So how does tape bring all of this stuff together?

269
00:20:08,760 --> 00:20:14,840
Well, if we tape our mouth, like we've mentioned multiple times on this podcast already is

270
00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,980
if I tape my mouth, it creates parasympathetic tone.

271
00:20:17,980 --> 00:20:24,640
It lets me recover and optimize me humor performance simply because it's encouraging

272
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,240
me to breathe through my mouth.

273
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,480
Now there's lots of different products out there in relation to tape.

274
00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:32,280
There's a very, very popular thing.

275
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:37,760
I get an email from them almost every single day, a commercially made mouth tape that they

276
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:42,240
market because it works really, really well with facial hair.

277
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:47,440
But it doesn't have to be that grandiose and it certainly doesn't need to be that expensive.

278
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:54,400
And so for me personally, I've been using the 3M microfiber tape for at least three years,

279
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:59,920
if not four years at this point, pretty consistently, I tape my mouth when I'm at home.

280
00:20:59,920 --> 00:21:05,400
When I sleep and I tape my mouth when I'm at work and we have the opportunity to sleep.

281
00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:10,160
And if we get up for a call, then I just take that piece of tape off, it goes in the trash,

282
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,240
and then I start the process over when we get back for that call.

283
00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,280
It's just part of my routine now.

284
00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:17,360
It's really not a big deal.

285
00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:21,080
Now when I tape my mouth, I'm not using a full long piece of tape where it's taping

286
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:22,800
my entire lip shut.

287
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:27,080
I'm using a very, very small thin strip of the microfiber tape.

288
00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:31,960
I take a lot of the sticky off by peeling that little piece of tape off, maybe let's

289
00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:34,200
call it a quarter of an inch wide.

290
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:40,000
And then I put the tape on the back of my thumb and I take some of that sticky off.

291
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,320
And then I put it on my face.

292
00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:46,200
So that way if I do need to take it off in short order, it's not, especially if we get

293
00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:51,640
up a few times in one night, multiple times in one night, it's not creating damage to

294
00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:53,520
my lips and to my skin.

295
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:57,720
So I take a lot of that sticky off and really it's just acting as a very simple reminder

296
00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,160
for me when I sleep to keep my lips shut.

297
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,440
And some people have really, really good results with this method, you know, to tape their

298
00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:11,400
mouth and they might only need to try and kind of train their body for a month or so.

299
00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:15,760
And they can essentially just ditch the tape altogether and they just breathe through their

300
00:22:15,760 --> 00:22:16,760
nose when they sleep.

301
00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:18,000
They're not snoring anymore.

302
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:19,880
They're not waking up with dry mouth.

303
00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,080
They're waking up feeling refreshed and recovered.

304
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:28,560
But others like myself maybe need a longer commitment or I can go through phases where

305
00:22:28,560 --> 00:22:30,760
I can tape my mouth for a while.

306
00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:36,520
I can stop taping it and my wife isn't complaining that I'm sleeping or snoring.

307
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:38,040
And I'm waking up feeling refreshed.

308
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:39,040
I don't have dry mouth.

309
00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,200
So I know that I'm sleeping with my mouth closed.

310
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:47,480
And then I go through other phases where that's certainly not the case and I need that piece

311
00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,760
of tape to remind my body while I'm asleep just to keep my mouth shut.

312
00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,800
So you don't need some massive thing.

313
00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:57,640
You don't need to tape your entire mouth shut.

314
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:59,560
Just a very, very simple piece of tape.

315
00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:05,560
And when I tape my mouth shut, it's such a small piece of tape that if I had to, I can

316
00:23:05,560 --> 00:23:07,200
still breathe through my mouth.

317
00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:11,600
So if my body really is like, hey, I'm not getting enough oxygen, which probably isn't

318
00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:13,360
going to be the case when you're breathing through your nose.

319
00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:14,520
You're not doing anything.

320
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,000
You're just laying there asleep.

321
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:23,760
You don't need to have this massive tidal volume of air coming in or exiting as you're

322
00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:25,400
asleep.

323
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:30,320
But if I needed to, I can breathe around that piece of tape through the sides of my mouth,

324
00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:34,520
both sides, and compensate that way.

325
00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,760
I can also actually have a conversation with that piece of tape.

326
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:44,920
It just kind of sounds like this where the middle parts of my lips are taped together.

327
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:49,800
And I could still have a little bit of a conversation if I need to, but I'm asleep, so I don't need

328
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:52,040
to talk.

329
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:54,720
So it doesn't need to be this grandiose thing.

330
00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,960
And I understand that a lot of you are like, oh, this is so ridiculous.

331
00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:03,200
There's no way or I'm going to die if I tape my mouth.

332
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:04,200
Consult with your doc.

333
00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:05,200
See what you think.

334
00:24:05,200 --> 00:24:07,480
Do you have obstructive sleep apnea?

335
00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:10,040
Do you have some other sleep disorder?

336
00:24:10,040 --> 00:24:15,200
Is it worth giving it a shot with a really small piece of tape and seeing what happens?

337
00:24:15,200 --> 00:24:18,760
And what's probably going to occur is when you try this out, the first night's going

338
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:19,760
to kind of suck.

339
00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:20,760
I'm not going to lie.

340
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,000
It's kind of like anything else.

341
00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:27,440
When you have something new, you're focused on it first off.

342
00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:32,280
So maybe start trying to tape your mouth when you're watching a movie.

343
00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:36,680
Do it in the comfort of your home so you don't get made fun of by all the people at your

344
00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:38,400
work, right?

345
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:43,800
But do it while you're in a rest state and start to get kind of used to wearing mouth

346
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,960
tape when you're at rest and training your body.

347
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,960
Hey, when I'm at rest, I want to make sure that I'm breathing through my nose.

348
00:24:50,960 --> 00:24:55,520
It's going to make that first night or first couple nights a lot easier on you.

349
00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,600
And yes, you're going to wake up sometimes and your eyeball is going to be taped shut

350
00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,360
because you pull that mouth tape off.

351
00:25:01,360 --> 00:25:06,360
It might be on your eyebrow or in your hair or whatever.

352
00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:08,800
But ultimately, it won't take very long.

353
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:13,720
And from a lot of the people that I've coached specifically on using mouth tape, they have

354
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:21,240
an instant reaction in a positive fashion to how much better, more refreshed they feel

355
00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,360
by simply using a small little piece of tape.

356
00:25:25,360 --> 00:25:27,520
So lots of resources in the show notes.

357
00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,280
I have the 3M microfiber tape linked in there as well.

358
00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:35,880
For Amazon, I have a bunch of different books and a couple articles and studies for you

359
00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,040
to check out if you're into this sort of stuff.

360
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,520
And we really appreciate you spending your valuable time with us here at Firefighter

361
00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:43,520
Craftsmanship.

362
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:49,240
We're stoked to get a good old sleep series going over the next few episodes specifically.

363
00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:53,600
I'm going to dive into some of the research that I was able to conduct as I completed

364
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:55,680
my master's degree.

365
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,480
Super excited that that program is done.

366
00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,760
I learned an amazing amount of information.

367
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:08,040
Very very stoked to start to put a lot of that into play and even more stoked that that

368
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,400
three and a half year journey is over.

369
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,240
So very exciting times here at Firefighter Craftsmanship.

370
00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:18,320
A lot more quality content coming your way and some really, really fun things on the

371
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:19,320
horizon.

372
00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:20,800
But for now, we're going to focus on sleep.

373
00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,160
We're going to focus on how can we optimize sleep?

374
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,000
How can we use different technologies to optimize sleep?

375
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,000
And really just some basic education around sleep.

376
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:36,760
Why does it matter and how can I control the controllables?

377
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:41,000
So if you've gotten any value out of this show ever, whether it's today or any previous

378
00:26:41,000 --> 00:26:46,320
episode, please consider rating, reviewing and following the show on your favorite podcast

379
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:47,320
player.

380
00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:49,960
We would love to see some five star ratings out there.

381
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:55,880
If you think it's worthy of that, just go ahead and spend 10 seconds and rate, review

382
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:57,240
and follow the show.

383
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,000
If you follow it, you'll never miss one of these weekly episodes released every single

384
00:27:01,000 --> 00:27:04,080
Wednesday.

385
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:05,560
So thank you again.

386
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,480
Let us know if you have any questions.

387
00:27:07,480 --> 00:27:13,520
If you are throwing the red flag at any of this stuff, or if you have any specific topics

388
00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:28,920
or guest ideas for the firefighter craftsmanship podcast, stay smart.