Tongue exercises for sleep apnea?

September 28, 2009

What do singing and playing the didgeridoo have in common? They both involve profound throat and tongue muscle control, and both are found to improve sleep apnea symptoms. Tongue and throat exercises have been around for years, usually offered for people with various speech and swallowing problems. But more recently, they’ve also been advocated for conditions like snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.

You may be asking by now, "does it work?", and my answer is that just like everything else that’s touted to cure snoring and sleep apnea: it works sometimes for some people, to various degrees. You have to be skeptical whenever something new comes out for sleep apnea treatment, but you also have to be open minded as well. There are so many other variables that will affect whether or not one of these options will work for you, in addition to the method itself.

If you’ve been following me for at least 4 years, you may remember that I took part in a small research protocol using tongue exercises for upper airway resistance syndrome. Some patients that took part in this study did feel dramatically better, some felt somewhat better, and others felt no better. Unfortunately, I had to stop the protocol due to logistical issues.

In a recent study that was published earlier this year, researchers in Brazil used tongue, throat, and facial exercises taken from speech and swallow therapy to significantly improve not only how patients felt subjectively, but objectively, the AHI (apnea hypopnea index) dropped as well. While not "curing" sleep apnea completely, they did show that it made a significant difference for many, but not all of the participants. The theory is that exercising oral and facial muscles give it more tone or muscle "memory" so that it doesn’t relax as much, leading to obstruction. It’s similar to progesterone’s effects on tongue muscle, where it increases muscle tone.

Along the same lines, musicians who play certain woodwind instruments are found to have significant improvement by subjective and objective measures. In another study, playing the didgeridoo was found to lower the AHI on average by about 50%. There’s a field called orofacial myology, where therapists help toddlers and children improve oral posture, mouth breathing, and tongue thrust problems.

I wouldn’t say that these methods can take place of your sleep apnea treatment, but if you’re interested, and are motivated, these various methods can complement your formal treatment option. For those of you who refuse or can’t tolerate traditional treatments, this may be something to start off with while you consider other, more definitive options.

Have you tried any of these options, and if so, did it help?

Written by Steven Park · Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments

Tongue Exercise for Sleep Apnea?

May 8, 2009

Brazilian researchers reported that a series of throat exercises, along with breathing exercises and nasal saline irrigation, could improve signs and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. Volunteers with obstructive sleep apnea were given exercises which were similar to those used traditionally for speech therapy. This randomized study showed that the overall AHI dropped 39% in the study group after 3 months. Daytime sleepiness, snoring, sleep quality and neck size were all significant improved. The sham control group underwent breathing exercises and nasal irrigation only, and there were no significant changes.

These are interesting results which are in line with with my limited past experience using tongue exercises—some people do improve. I started a research project may years ago with Janet Bennett, a speech pathologist who’s the inventor of IJustWantToSleep.com, but had to cancel the study to to various logistical issues with follow-up and compliance. However, there definitely were a significant number of patients that did benefit subjectively to various degrees.

There are other reports of using singing lessons or playing the didgeridoo to strengthen tongue and throat muscles. I don’t think these can replace standard ways of treating obstructive sleep apnea, but if a patient is motivated and is looking for alternative options, then I’ll recommend this.

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Can Singing Help Your Sleep Apnea?

December 4, 2008

There are a number of programs on the internet that promote programs or products that are said to "cure" sleep apnea. This ranges from singing lessons to didgeridoo playing. Whether or not they work is up for debate, but one interesting thing about all these options is that they involve profound breath control.

One of the key concepts in breathing physiology is that the muscles that control inhalation is activated by the sympathetic nervous system (the stress half of your involuntary nervous system). Muscles that control exhalation is activated by the parasympathetic nervous system (the relaxation half). In yoga, the act of breathing, called pranayama, emphasizes slow, deep, long, controlled periods of exhalation, relative to a shorter period of inhalation. This is sometimes called the relaxing breath. Therefore, if you spend more time exhaling than inhaling, you’re spending more time relaxing. No wonder some people rave about how calm and relaxed they feel after a yoga session.

When you sing (or play a any wind instrument), you’re spending much more time exhaling than inhaling—almost a 50 to 1 ratio sometimes. That means that the parasympathetic nervous system is being constantly stimulated, leading to a relaxed state. Yes, you may be exerting yourself somewhat, but you’re more relaxed. This may be the reason why many people like to sing—it makes us feel good.

So can singing or playing the didgeridoo help your sleep apnea? It probably won’t cure sleep apnea, but by keeping you more relaxed, you may feel less stressed or tired.

Do you feel good when you sing?

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