Do Spiders Really Crawl in Your Mouth When You Sleep?
If you have heard of this urban legend, you might be wondering, do spiders really crawl in your mouth when you sleep? This idea has been spreading through email chains and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. However, the truth is that spiders do not actually enter your mouth. In fact, the odds of you swallowing a spider while sleeping are very rare.
When you are asleep, your facial muscles are relaxed and you don’t have much of an opportunity to open your mouth. A spider isn’t the type of creature that would like to spend much time around you, especially when you’re asleep.
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine says that approximately 25 percent of the mouth opening is too small for a spider to fit into. Furthermore, a spider would need to be able to drop into the mouth from a great height.
If you do have an opportunity to swallow a spider while you’re asleep, you’d probably wake up from the sensation. A spider would have to be extremely intelligent to fall into your mouth and get to work. If you’re not able to swallow it, you would have to keep your mouth wide open as it’s very likely to crawl out of your mouth.
If you were awake, you’d have a chance to run away from the spider. The vibrations from your snoring would also warn them to stay away. In fact, most spiders are aware of vibrations and they will avoid you if you snore.