Written from firsthand experience with a deviated septum and checked against clinical sources. We make Ventriq Nasal Strips, so we are always upfront that a strip relieves symptoms rather than fixing the structural problem. Read our methodology or our editorial policy.
If you skateboard, the best nasal strips are sport strips with a spring stiff enough to hold the nasal valve open and an adhesive that survives a real sweat at the skate park, because most sessions are not one steady effort, they are short sharp bursts, a line, a trick, a fall and a walk back up, with plenty of standing around in between while you watch someone else drop in. A strip will not sharpen your pop or land a trick for you, but it lowers the resistance your nose creates on every breath, which keeps you calmer and more composed while you are lining up your next attempt rather than sucking air through your mouth. If your nose tends to block up when you are concentrating hard, or you carry a structural issue like a deviated septum, a strip gives some of that airway back before you even step on the board.
I started using nasal strips for sleep after a Consultant Otolaryngologist at a private hospital in Dublin diagnosed me with a significantly deviated septum and recommended septorhinoplasty. I played rugby for over a decade and broke my nose more than once along the way, so I know what it is like trying to pull a full breath through a nose that will not cooperate. I put the surgery off so I could keep training, and I built Ventriq to give myself a way to breathe properly in the meantime. I noticed the difference at night first, then anywhere I needed to stay calm and focused, which is most of what skateboarding actually asks of you between the moments of real effort.
Why Nasal Breathing Matters in Skateboarding
Skateboarding does not ask much of your aerobic system compared with a sport like distance running. Most of a session is spent standing, rolling, waiting your turn or thinking through a line, broken up by short bursts of real effort when you commit to a trick or push hard between obstacles. The demand on your breathing is less about sustained output and more about staying settled and focused, especially in the seconds before you commit to something you have been thinking about for a while.
Nasal breathing slows your breathing rate, warms and humidifies the air before it reaches your lungs, and triggers a calmer nervous system response than mouth breathing. That calmer state matters more in a sport like skateboarding than raw lung capacity does, because a shaky mind before you drop in or pop a trick tends to end in a slam rather than a clean landing. The nose also produces nitric oxide as air passes through it, which acts as a bronchodilator and a vasodilator, helping open your airways and relax your blood vessels, part of why nasal breathing tends to feel steadying rather than stimulating.
The catch is that the nose can still feel blocked at the exact moment you want to be calm, especially if you skate outdoors where pollen, dust from a concrete park or cold air can leave your nose congested. A deviated septum makes this worse, reducing the cross sectional area of one nasal passage, and combined with the nasal cycle, where the tissue inside your nose alternates which side is more congested on a roughly four hour rotation, the narrower side can feel almost fully blocked partway through a session.
How Nasal Strips Help Skateboarders
A nasal strip sits across the lower cartilage of your nose and uses spring tension to lift the nasal valve open from the outside. The nasal valve is the narrowest point in your whole airway, the same spot that pinches inward if you press gently on the side of your nose and breathe in hard, and it is the spot most likely to narrow further when you are tense and concentrating hard before a trick.
For a skater with a deviated septum, the strip helps most on the side where the deviation crowds the valve area, giving back some width on the restricted side right when you want your breathing to feel easy rather than effortful. For a skater with no structural issue, the main benefit is keeping the nostrils from pulling inward when you are holding your breath or breathing shallow through a moment of concentration, which happens to plenty of people with a straight septum too.
I use the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips for sessions at the park and for street skating. They use a stiffer spring than a sleep strip and an adhesive built to stay put through real sweat, which matters on a warm day when you are session after session without a break. A strip that lifts off halfway through is not doing anything for you.
Our pick for skateboarding
Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips
Drug free strips built to stay put through sweat and hold the nasal valve open, so you keep breathing through your nose when the effort ramps up. From EUR 20, with buy more save more packs.
Shop Ventriq SportSleeping or recovering instead? See Ventriq Sleep, or read how to choose the right strip.
What to Look for in a Skateboarding Nasal Strip
Not all nasal strips are built the same, and for skateboarding a few things actually matter:
- Adhesive strength: standard strips give up as soon as you sweat under a helmet or in the sun. You need a strip made for sport, with an adhesive designed to grip through a full session.
- Spring tension: more tension means more lift and a more open airway. A soft strip made for sleep will not give you the same support once your heart rate climbs.
- Fit and position: a strip that sits too high on the bony part of your nose does nothing. It has to sit across the lower cartilage where the nasal valve is.
- Skin tolerance: if you skate most days, you want a strip that does not leave your skin raw every time you peel it off.
I have tried a lot of strips over the years. Most were fine for sleep but failed the moment real sweat got involved. The Ventriq Sport strip holds better and keeps lifting the airway open through a full session at the park.
Does It Actually Improve Performance?
I will be straight about this. Skateboarding is not a sport where anyone has measured nasal strips against VO2 max or lab tested endurance, because that is not really what the sport tests. I am not going to tell you a strip will help you land a trick you cannot already land, and it will not cure sleep apnea or fix a structural deviation on its own.
What I can tell you from my own experience is that breathing through your nose while you are lining up a trick feels calmer than standing there with your mouth open, and it is easier to settle yourself before you commit when your breathing is not doing its own thing. Whether that translates into better skating depends entirely on the skater and the trick. If you want the deeper look at the evidence on nasal strips and sport generally, I have covered it in Boost Your Workout: How Nasal Strips Enhance Athletic Performance.
Nasal Strips if You Have a Deviated Septum
If you have a deviated septum and you skate regularly, nasal strips are probably more useful for you than for the average skater. You are starting every session with your airway already restricted, and standing around outdoors between attempts gives cold air and dust plenty of time to work on you, so anything that gives part of that width back helps you stay settled. External strips work best when the restriction sits at the nasal valve rather than deep inside the nasal cavity, which is the most common pattern after a knock to the nose from a bad slam. I have written more on the condition generally in Best Nasal Strips for a Deviated Septum.
If your breathing also wrecks your sleep and slows your recovery after a long session, How to Sleep Better with a Deviated Septum covers what has worked for me overnight.
My Recommendation
For skateboarding, get the Ventriq Sport Nasal Strips. They were built for sport and they stay on through a real session, sweat and all. If your main need is breathing and recovering better overnight after a long day at the park, the Ventriq Sleep Nasal Strips are the right pick for bedtime, and plenty of skaters use both: sport strips at the park, sleep strips overnight. If you also ride a snowboard or surf, the same thinking applies to nasal strips for snowboarding and nasal strips for surfing, since all three sports mix long calm stretches with short bursts of real effort. Not sure which strip fits your nose shape best? Read how to choose the right nasal strip. If a long session leaves you snoring at night, have a look at Do Nasal Strips Stop Snoring and Best Nasal Strips for Sleeping.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are nasal strips allowed in skateboarding competitions?
Yes. Nasal strips are a mechanical breathing aid with no drug action, so they are not on any WADA prohibited list, and nothing in World Skate or amateur competition rules bans them. You will see skaters wearing them at every level.
Will a nasal strip stay on under a helmet?
Yes, a quality sport strip sits low on the cartilage below where a helmet strap sits, so it does not interfere with your gear. It is designed to hold through real sweat for a full session.
Where exactly should I place a nasal strip?
Position it across the fleshiest part of your nose, over the lower cartilage rather than the bone. If you feel the spring tension lifting your nostrils when you breathe in, it is in the right place. Sit it too high and it does nothing.
Do nasal strips help me stay calm before a trick?
They keep the nasal valve open so nasal breathing stays easy, which helps you stay calmer and more settled while you are concentrating on a trick. They will not land the trick for you, but a steady breath tends to beat a held one.
Do I need a deviated septum for nasal strips to work?
No. Dynamic nasal valve collapse, where the side of the nose pulls inward under hard breathing or tension, is common even in people with a perfectly straight septum. A strip prevents that collapse and improves airflow either way.
Can I use a sleep nasal strip for a skate session instead of a sport strip?
You can, but most sleep strips are not made for real sweat and will start peeling within the first hour of a session. A sport specific strip uses a stronger adhesive built to hold through a full day at the park.
