Oropharyngeal Exercises
for Sleep Apnea
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If you snore like a grizzly bear or have sleep apnea, and you know that you need to live with CPAP for the rest of your life, you will also want to find other cures. So, you start to ask yourself if there are some neck and throat exercises that could help your sleep apnea. If the problem in obstructive sleep apnea is the tissues relaxing and collapsing onto each other, you probably wonder if there is any oropharyngeal exercises to strengthen and tone these muscles. A brazilian study shows that doing certain tongue and facial exercises for 30 minutes daily may ease the severity of obstructive sleep apnea. Those exercises for sleep apnea included: - brushing the tongue with a toothbrush
- putting the tip of the tongue on the soft palate and sliding the tongue backward
- pronouncing vowels quickly or continuously
- keeping the tongue in a certain position when eating
- and other methods
This study included thirty-one adults with moderate obstructive sleep apnea. The results of the study was interesting: after three months of oropharyngeal exercises, the patients had reduced their obstructive sleep apnea severity by thirty-nine percent. They also reported that they were snoring less, sleeping better, and less sleepiness during daytime. Larger studies are needed to confirm the results and to learn which oropharyngeal exercises were most important, but the basic idea is to strengthen the muscles around the airway so it's less likely to collapse during sleep, say the researchers, who included Katia Guimaraes of the sleep laboratory at Brazil's University of Sao Paolo Medical School.
Here are the most common oropharyngeal exercises for sleep apnea and snoring:
- Slowly open and close your mouth to its full extent, making sure the lips meet when closing.
- Pucker your lips (as if about to kiss). Hold for a count of 10. Relax.
- Spread your lips into a big, exaggerated smile. Hold. Relax.
- Mix Exercises 2 & 3: Pucker-Hold-Smile-Hold.
- Try to pucker with your mouth wide open, without closing your jaws together. Hold & relax.
- Close your lips and press them tightly together.
- Close your lips firmly, then make a "slurping" noise, as if sipping a drink.
- Open your mouth and stick out your tongue. Be sure your tongue comes straight out of your mouth and doesn't go off the side. Hold, relax and repeat several times. Work toward sticking your tongue out farther each day, but still pointing straight ahead.
- stick out your tongue and try to reach your chin with the tongue tip. Hold at the farthest extension.
- Stick out your tongue and try to touch your nose with the tongue tip. Hold at farthest extension.
- Stick out your tongue. Hold a spoon upright against the tip of your extended tongue and try to push it away while your hand holds the spoon in place.
- Repeatedly stick your tongue in and out as fast as you can.
- Flick your tongue from corner to corner as quickly as you can.
- Move tongue all around your lips in a circle as quickly as you can, making sure you stay in constant contact.
- Open and close mouth as quickly as you can, making sure your lips close each time.
- Say "Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma" as quickly as possible, ensuring there's an "em" and an "ah" sound each time.
- Repeat with "La-La-La-La."
- Repeat with "Ka-Ka-Ka-Ka" as quickly and accurately as you can.
- Repeat with "Kala-Kala-Kala-Kala"
- Gargle loudly with warm water.
- Sing through the vowel sounds (A-E-I-O-U) as loudly as you can (or dare). Songs like "Old McDonald Had a Farm" are also good.
Although some patients with sleep apnea have success with oropharyngeal exercises, the results are not consistent enough to be formally recommended.
If you are interested in improving your snoring and sleep apnea with these exercises, you need consistency and dedication. It can't hurt to try. But don't give up if you don't improve. Follow up with a sleep doctor and a
sleep study.
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