Did you know that there are facial exercises that are proven to cure sleep apnea?

In this article we give you step-by-step instructions for four exercises that can be done to tone various parts of the mouth. Give them a try and you might just see a difference in your snoring and sleep apnea tonight!

But first, we briefly describe how these exercises cure sleep apnea (and snoring!), and which parts you need to exercise to get maximum benefit:

How Do These Exercises Cure Sleep Apnea and Snoring?

The main reason people do exercises for obstructive sleep apnea is to build and strengthen the muscles located around their airway. 

When the muscles around the airway are strengthened, your throat stays open when you fall asleep. So by doing these exercises, the airway is a lot less likely to completely collapse and become blocked off during sleep.

So what kinds of exercises strengthen the airway?

Here are the main categories of exercises, for each body area:

Tongue Exercises:

Many people don’t realize that the tongue is a muscle. If the tongue becomes weak it can drop into the throat, causing an airway blockage. Tongue exercises assist in building the tongue’s tone and strength.

Jaw Exercises:

A tense jaw can contribute to obstructive sleep apnea. If the jaw is tight it can place pressure directly on the breathing passages. Jaw exercises will help to loosen and relax the jaw muscles.

Throat Exercises:

Weakened throat muscles can collapse during sleep, causing the airway to become blocked. Throat exercises help to build, tone and strengthen the throat muscles. The exercises also open the throat up more to prevent it closing upon sleep.

Soft Palate Exercises:

The soft palate muscles located around the base of the tongue relax during sleep. A weak soft palate can flap around and its tip can fall down onto the tongue. The soft palate exercises lift the soft palate up. The exercises also tone and strength the soft palate.

Four Sample Mouth & Throat Exercises You Can Do Right Now

Exercise #1: Tongue Slide

Purpose - to tone and strengthen the tongue and throat muscles.

Exercise #2: Soft Palate Blowing

Purpose – to expand and enlarge the pharynx. The respiratory system is also being trained in this exercise.

A balloon can also be used for this exercise. 

Exercise #3: The Tiger Yell

(No actual yelling required! The action of opening your mouth wide mimics a tiger going to yell/roar). Best performed in front of a mirror.

Purpose – to exercise and strengthen all the muscles in the back of your throat.

Exercise #4: Jaw Resist

Purpose – to exercise and strengthen the jaw muscles.

What You Should Do Next

If you’ve been struggling to find a sleep apnea treatment that’s both effective AND doesn’t involve wearing horrible equipment to bed, you’re going to love this, because…

In this article we describe a treatment that:

Curious?

♣ What Are Mouth & Throat Exercises For Sleep Apnea?

If you’ve been diagnosed with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea, there’s a good chance that you can improve your condition with mouth and throat exercises. 

All of the sleep apnea mouth and throat exercises are aimed at improving the muscle and tissue strength within your upper respiratory system.

It’s possible that when you hear about exercises for the mouth and throat, you’re mentally picturing areas that you can see on the outside of the body.

In fact, these exercises involve more of what you can’t see. They include the soft palate and the area of the tongue at the back of your mouth.

In addition to the interior of your mouth, exercises for sleep apnea also target the mid-throat (oropharynx) and lower throat (laryngopharynx) areas.

Some throat exercises strengthen the front of your neck and help to correctly position your jaw if it’s not properly aligned when you are sleeping.

♣ How Can Mouth & Throat Exercises Cure My Sleep Apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) happens when your body doesn’t get enough oxygen while you’re sleeping. While snoring is an indicator of a sleep disturbance, not everyone with OSA snores.

Both shallow breathing, hypopnea, and complete breathing blockage, apnea, are obstructive sleep patterns. Contributing factors can range from body defects, injuries, illnesses, diseases and aging to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol use, and obesity.

If you’ve been diagnosed with mild or moderate OSA, you’ll really appreciate how mouth and throat exercises (also called “orofacial exercises” or “oropharyngeal exercises”) can help you to diminish or eliminate your sleep disorder.

​If you haven’t already been diagnosed, but think that you might have OSA, you’ll want to know about the main causes of OSA.

♣ Main Causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA):

Whatever caused your OSA, the result is that your breathing becomes restrictive. This restriction leads to poor quality of sleep, daytime sleepiness, loss of concentration, and may even contribute to other serious pulmonary or cardio issues.

The tongue can block your entire airway when it relaxes during sleep if you have either condition.

During your sleeping hours, either condition can significantly block the air coming into your body.

If you’re overweight, the extra pounds can place additional pressure on your respiratory system when you’re laying down. A thick neckline can restrict the intake of air when you’re laying down.

♣ How Orofacial Exercises Eliminate the Causes of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA):

The goals of orofacial exercises are to tighten and strengthen your upper respiratory muscles. This is done to widen your airway and to let you get an adequate supply of air into your lungs without the use of any medical or dental device or machine.

This will help to provide some space between the tongue and the soft palate and allow for the widening your airway.

As the muscles in your mouth and throat are tightened, you’ll be able to breathe better and reduce or eliminate the reasons for apnea episodes.

The comments here about how these exercises can lessen or eliminate your sleep apnea are more than theories, they are also supported with proof of their effectiveness.

♣ Where's The Proof That These Exercises Work?

Medical organizations and universities have conducted a large number of clinical studies on the subject of sleep apnea. There are a few prominent trials solely dedicated to the effectiveness of mouth and throat exercises.

Without exception, all of the studies concluded that oropharyngeal exercises do work.

Rather than list an exhaustive description of medical parameters, terminologies, and measurements, the following websites are provided for your convenience to read at your leisure.

The most important result of the wide range of trial material is that facial and throat exercises will reduce sleep apnea episodes.

Study # 1:  Performed By the Sao Paulo University Medical School:

1. The gold standard amongst these trials is a study performed by the Sao Paulo University Medical School in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and it concentrated on the relationship of snoring and OSA.

This study involved 39 patients with a primary issue of snoring and who had been diagnosed with snoring and/or mild or moderate OSA.

The patients were put into two groups; one without oropharyngeal exercises (controlled), and the other with daily oropharyngeal exercises (therapy).

After three months, the study concluded that the controlled group did not show any measurable improvement.

However, the therapy group demonstrated a measurable reduction in snoring and this indicated that treatment with oropharyngeal exercises may help people with snoring and mild or moderate OSA.

This research study has been mentioned and supported by:

• The National Institutes of Health,
• The American College of Chest Physicians and the Sleep Laboratory of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, 
• Medical Xpress, Science X network - This is a web-based health news service that reports on comprehensive coverage in various fields of medical, dental and health professions.
• The American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine article,
• MedPage Today, - This is an online service for breaking medical news and it partners with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.

Study # 2: Performed By the Sao Paulo University Medical School:

2. Another significant study on mouth and throat exercises performed by the Sao Paulo University Medical School in Sao Paulo, Brazil, concentrated on the effect of oropharyngeal exercises on patients with moderate OSA. The study is registered at Clinical Trials.

This study involved 31 patients who had been diagnosed with moderate OSA. The patients were put into two groups; one without oropharyngeal exercises (controlled), and the other with daily oropharyngeal exercises (therapy).

The therapy involved repetition and holding exercises performed several times a day.

After three months, the study concluded that the controlled group did not show any measurable improvement.

However, the therapy group demonstrated a measurable reduction in apnea episodes and this indicated that treatment with oropharyngeal exercises may help people with moderate OSA.

This research study has been mentioned and supported by:

• Scientific Publication Data, 
• The health section of Time Inc. Network, 
• The Diabetes Education and Research Center, 
• The National Institutes of Health, 

♣ Tongue Exercises For Sleep Apnea

There are two major tongue related issues that contribute to sleep apnea. One issue weakens the muscles at the base of the tongue and the other issue is an enlarged tongue.

Either issue will enable the tongue to move backwards in your mouth and obstruct the upper throat area when your muscles relax during sleep.

Tongue exercises are aimed at strengthening the muscles at the base and the back of your tongue. The result of tongue exercises is to prevent your tongue from shifting backwards and blocking the airway into your throat while you sleep.

The back of your tongue intersects at the mid-level of your throat. This intersection of your tongue and throat is crucial in its need to remain open so that you’ll be able to breathe freely.

♣ Throat Exercises For Sleep Apnea

Your throat (pharynx) runs the length from your nasal cavities and mouth to your vocal cords and esophagus.

Weakened or damaged muscles in your throat can interfere with your breathing process during the day, but can specifically interfere with your breathing when you lay down at night.

One throat exercise for sleep apnea aims to tighten and strengthen the muscles at the back of your throat. Other exercises help lift an elongated uvula, widen your airway, and reduce the size of a thick neckline.

The aim of throat exercises is to decrease or eliminate sleep disorder episodes.

The roof of your mouth is called the palate. The front of the roof is the hard palate and the back of the roof is the soft palate.

The soft palate is a major player in your breathing and swallowing abilities and is positioned between the back of your tongue and your throat.

♣ Soft Palate Exercises For Sleep Apnea

An enlarged soft palate means that it can actually rest on the back of your tongue and inhibit your airway. This encourages sleep apnea occurrences when your tongue relaxes, moves backwards in your mouth, and comes in contact with the soft palate.

Soft palate exercises elevate the palate away from your tongue and throat. This enables your throat to expand and allows you to breathe normally while you’re laying down.

Another benefit of soft palate exercises is that you re-learn how to breathe naturally through your nose.

Certain oral speech sounds are produced through the use of your soft palate, middle tongue section and your jaw. A small or large jaw can interfere with your speaking, chewing, and breathing abilities.

♣ Jaw Exercises For Sleep Apnea

Source: www.goodtoknow.co.uk

If you have a small jawline you may be restricting the natural positioning of your tongue. This can force your tongue backwards in your mouth and obstruct your breathing.

If your jaw is not positioned correctly while you’re sleeping, it can result in snoring because your airway is partially or totally blocked.

Jaw exercises work to help you correct its position during sleep and the result will enable you to breathe properly.

Jaw exercises help to tighten the muscles at the base of your tongue which will reduce your snoring and help to reduce your sleep disorder incidents.

♣ Sleep Apnea Exercise Program

An ideal exercise program to reduce or eliminate sleep apnea episodes will incorporate all four major upper respiratory regions; the throat, tongue, soft palate and jaw.

The exercises work all oropharyngeal muscles by eliminating fatty tissue, tightening flabby muscles in the throat, and opening your airway.

Just as you’d follow a daily exercise routine for body tone and strength, a sleep apnea exercise program is intended to be a positive lifelong routine.

You can perform these exercises throughout the day, but some exercises will improve your quality of sleep if they’re done shortly before going to bed.

The best part of a sleep apnea exercise program is that the benefits are endless and easy. You’ll regain quality deep sleep, eliminate daytime sleepiness, reduce or eliminate snoring, and diminish or end your sleep disruption episodes.

An exercise program is non-invasive, risk-free, and financially friendly.

For your peace of mind and breathing freedom, a sleep apnea exercise program is definitely something you should try. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Related Video

To read the article related to this video please click this link: Sleep Apnea Exercises: 5 Effective Exercises To Try At Home

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