Tiny nostrils? It’s okay. You’re in a safe space.
My fiance and I have tried sleeping with just about every nasal dilator we could find, so I can confidently recommend the options below.
The Best Nasal Dilators
Whether you’re dealing with allergies, a deviated septum, or just want to alleviate snoring, a good nasal dilator is a worthwhile investment.
External dilators are the most comfortable option, and if you get the right one, they’re also the most effective. While internal dilators tend to be more cost-effective, but often more uncomfortable and less effective than some of the better external dilators out there.
This brings me to my first recommendation!
1. Intake Breathing Kit
The intake is a unique nasal dilator that uses magnets to hold your nose open.
This system allows the intake to open up the nostrils far wider than any other nasal dilator out there while also remaining firmly affixed and comfortable the whole time.
If you’re looking for the best, this is it, hands down.
How Does it Work?
You start off by placing small magnet patches on either side of your nose.
The included applicator tool makes it easy to apply these without messing up the adhesive with your fingers.
Proper application and placement are important for the best experience with this dilator so be sure to watch the application video provided by Intake!
Then all you do is place the magnetic nose expander over your nose…
And walla! You can breathe as you’ve never breathed before!
Seriously though, it can actually be a little shocking just how much more air you can inhale after putting this on.
Intake also has a very helpful page that illustrates how sizing and application works in more detail if you’re curious.
How Does it Compare to Breathe Right Strips
Before Intake came along, the go-to external nasal dilators were Breathe Right strips.
The problem with Breathe Right strips is that they rely on adhesive and spring force to hold your nose open.
This means it can only pull open your nose so much before the force causes the adhesive to pull away.
While the Intake also uses adhesive, the way it’s designed allows it to pull open the nose far more with no risk of peeling off.
You also have to pay for refills with Breathe Right, so there’s really no advantage here.
Conclusion
I love this thing, It’s hard to imagine how much easier breathing can be, it’s just something you get used to.
Believe it or not, Intake even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee that specifically mentions you can use the magnetic tabs and still return the product! It’s really a risk-free trial.
Your sleep is almost guaranteed to improve with the intake nasal dilator, so try it out!
Intake Breathing Kit
Pros
Cons
Check out my full review of the Intake if you want to learn more!
2. Silent Mammoth
Next on our list is the best internal nasal dilator around, the Silent Mammoth.
The main reason you might want to choose this one over the Intake is once you’ve got it personalized just right, it’s a bit easier to use.
Another reason to go with an internal dilator is that they’ve actually been shown to be more effective than external dilators in studies. [R] [R]
Now it’s important to realize that this applies to external dilators like the Breathe Right strips, not the Intake kit.
Check out our article How to Stop Mouth Breathing for more ideas on how to enhance your sleep!
Sizing
The Silent mammoth comes in two sizes; small and large.
In order to determine your size, just measure from the base of your nostrils to the tip of your nose.
You’ll then fall into one of two camps:
- 23 mm (0.85 inches) or less, order a small
- 24 mm (0.9 inches) or more, order a large
What sets the mammoth apart from other internal dilators, is that it can be fully customized and shaped to fit your nose.
This allows you to create a dilator that fully expands your rear turbinates, where the real airflow restriction occurs.
Silent Mammoth
Pros
Cons
3. Mute Rhinomed
If you’re looking for a good budget option, the one worth mentioning is the Mute nasal dilator by Rhinomed. I don’t find this one as comfortable or expansive, but it is cheaper, and it works really well for a lot of people!
So it might be worth checking out if you want to see how well a dilator could help you before upgrading to one of the better options above.
Sizing
Since the Rhinomed Mute isn’t as customizable, you’ll probably want to buy the trial pack first.
Once you find the right size, you can buy a pack of just those.
Simple as that.
Mute Rhinomed
Pros
Cons
4. Stickys
If you’re looking for an external nasal dilator to try out I recommend the Stickys which are a new brand on the market!
While external dilators stick-on dilators like this won’t function as well as something like the Intake Breathing Kit, they’re also cheaper and much easier to apply.
Stickys come in many different colors and are easy to apply since sizing isn’t really important on the outside of your nose, as much as it is on the inside.
Stickys External Nasal Dilator
Pros
Cons
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Do Nasal Dilators Help with Sleep?
Yes! My goodness yes.
If you have any breathing difficulties whatsoever or are just looking to improve your sleep efficiency, a nasal dilator is an incredibly useful tool.
There is plenty of evidence that nasal dilators can improve sleep quality, decrease snoring and sleep apnea, and encourage nasal breathing over mouth breathing, which comes with a whole host of benefits on its own. [R] [R] [R] [R] [R] [R] [R] [R] [R]
If you have a deviated septum, allergies, snoring problems, just have a small nose, or just want to breathe more easily at night, I highly recommend grabbing one of the dilators above to add to your sleep toolkit.
Hey Derek, for Intake Breathing do you have any concerns about magnets being so close to the body for extended periods of time?
I reached out to their customer support and received a fairly generic answer… It works very well, but this is a lingering concern.
That’s actually a good question and something I overlooked…
I’ll run some tests and see what I get, probably update the review with my findings.
My guess is as long as the field diminishes substantially before hitting the eyes and especially the brain there’s probably not a whole lot to worry about. Especially if the benefits of better breathing improve your sleep by a large enough margin to offset any potential downsides.
But if the concern is there, the internal dilators are still an option and work quite well.