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Throat Exercises Can Relieve Sleep Apnea - New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/health/25real.html?src=me&ref...
May 24, 2010
Throat Exercises Can Relieve Sleep Apnea
THE FACTS
For people suffering from sleep apnea, specialized breathing machines are the standard treatment.
The machines use a method called continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, which keeps the airway open and relieves potentially dangerous pauses in breathing during the night. But the machines are expensive, and some people complain that the mask and headgear cause uncomfortable side effects, like congestion.
One free and fairly simple alternative may be exercises that strengthen the throat. While they aren’t as established or as well studied as breathing machines, some research suggests they may reduce the severity of sleep apnea by building up muscles around the airway, making them less likely to collapse at night.
In a study published last year in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, scientists recruited a group of people with obstructive sleep apnea and split them into two groups. One was trained to do breathing exercises daily, while the other did 30 minutes of throat exercises, including swallowing and chewing motions, placing the tip of the tongue against the front of the palate and sliding it back, and pronouncing certain vowels quickly and continuously.
After three months, subjects who did the throat exercises snored less, slept better and reduced the severity of their condition by 39 percent. They also showed reductions in neck circumference, a known risk factor for apnea. The control group showed almost no improvement.
Other randomized studies have found similar effects. One even showed that playing instruments that strengthen the airways, like the didgeridoo, can ease sleep apnea.
THE BOTTOM LINE
For people with sleep apnea, throat exercises may be a cheap and useful therapy.
ANAHAD O’CONNOR scitimes@nytimes.com
Views: 38
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike on
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i saw this in the Times the other day. my reaction was, gee -- is this " alternative "treatment stuff getting out of hand? there is so little high-caliber media coverage of Sleep Apnea as it is. i wonder whether we should push CPAP, dental devices, surgery and other tried and true treatment modalities more than these one-off alternative treatments. any thoughts?
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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I realize any improvement would be good. I saw a picture of a gizmo advertised to stroke along the edges of your tongue to slim your tongue. I'm not selling my little bit of ResMed stock, yet.
I agree, Mike, lets stay with accredited, thoroughly tested modalities, that give us numbers to show whether they're working. That might mean looking at your machine numbers every morning, or a night in the sleep lab now and then, but we will know our OSA is being properly addressed.
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Permalink Reply by Renee on
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Hello Mike ~
Most definitely, without a doubt, CPAP ! However, I would also like to know about the exercises in the article - as an adjunct to CPAP - although they didn't provide any info on the ACTUAL exercises in the article.
eg: people do exercises for what's called "lazy eye" muscles - and "work out" to do exercises for all body muscles groups - and read, etc. for the brain muscle - so it seems it could be a good idea to also strengthen the throat muscle - IN ADDITION to CPAP.
Why not have all possible improvement for OSA?
Best,
Renee
Mike said:i saw this in the Times the other day. my reaction was, gee -- is this " alternative "treatment stuff getting out of hand? there is so little high-caliber media coverage of Sleep Apnea as it is. i wonder whether we should push CPAP, dental devices, surgery and other tried and true treatment modalities more than these one-off alternative treatments. any thoughts?
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"Tongue Exercises for Snoring & Sleep Apnea" with Janet Bennett.This was Dr. Park's teleseminar last night, if you go to his website I'm sure you can find info on how to purchase the program.
www.ijustwanttosleep.com
Renee said:
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Permalink Reply by Steven Y. Park, MD on
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In case you missed it, here's the link to download the complementary mp3 recording. It was a fascinating discussion. Like all the alternative/complementary options, they work to various degrees. It can be a good complementary form of treatment for many sleep apnea sufferers. Listen and decide for yourself.
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