Do throat exercises cure sleep apnea?

Doing research on google for natural ways to cure sleep apnea, I've read that doing throat exercises can cure it. Is this true? And if it is, what are some good throat exercises for this?

A FEW people have seen at least a reduction in events by practicing long and hard with a didgeridoo (a very long heavy instrument used by Australian aboriginals, but while there are also others who claim success through complicated breathing techniques developed in Russia long ago, I'm not aware that they've cured anyone, let alone made much of a difference, but the proponents are excellent salespeople! I do think studies have been done disproving their theories, but you'd have to check those out ("Buteyko Method").

Thanks Julie. I won't bother wasting my time researching on throat exercises then.

You give up easily.

Yes, Throat exercise works for me but it need weeks and consistent to be effective. In this exercise movement of tongue and soft pallate increase Hypoglossal Nerve stimulation which reduce apnea events.

danielqk wrote:Yes, Throat exercise works for me but it need weeks and consistent to be effective. In this exercise movement of tongue and soft pallate increase Hypoglossal Nerve stimulation which reduce apnea events.

Yes that is the big problem, weeks of consistent exercise every day to get some benefit AND continual practice daily for the rest of your life. Sure only 1/2 hour a day minimum => 15 hours per month => 180 hours per year. Xpap therapy works while you sleep, no loss of hours, no neighbours pounding the ceiling or walls while you practice that didgeridoo......

Wonder if a singing along to a little bit of metal would help much?

The kind that makes you want to grab a stringed axe, max the distortion, crank the volume, drop the tuning, play some furiously chaotic power chords and let out a deep blood-curdling, guttural therapeutic growl until the neighbors get the local constabulary to come knocking down your door..

Or there is always Opera... or anything else that requires at least a bit of vocal power. might be cheaper on door repairs and easier on the voice in the long run.

I've noticed a few articles on google about singing to strengthen throat muscles in people with OSA.

jedimark wrote:
Or there is always Opera... or anything else that requires at least a bit of vocal power. might be cheaper on door repairs and easier on the voice in the long run.

I've noticed a few articles on google about singing to strengthen throat muscles in people with OSA.

It does, if you do it right. You need a good voice teacher and the exercises will drive the cats up the wall. My daughter studied opera voice. Singing without learning breathing techniques can destroy you voice, practising those techniques can destroy relationships.

A relative had tried eye exercises (in an expensive set of dvd's) in an effort to improve vision.
NO EFFECT!
Even if exercise actually did help, it would require hours of intense effort.
Frankly, I have better ways to spend my waking hours, and my machine has it covered all night long.
--with very little effort on my part.

Im not expert but isn't our apneas mainly caused by the airway collapsing on itself? So when we sleep and everything goes into a paralyzed state, a weak muscle and a strong muscle are equally powerless when paralyzed?

acidragon wrote:Im not expert but isn't our apneas mainly caused by the airway collapsing on itself? So when we sleep and everything goes into a paralyzed state, a weak muscle and a strong muscle are equally powerless when paralyzed?

This reminds me that using a muscle strengthens not only the tissue of the muscle but the centers of the brain that drive it as well.

It also affects the fat and hormone content around where the muscle is. OSA is a disease of inflammation. If there is less of that the muscle does not need to pull as much.

Exercise, if consistant, seems to always be good and do good for us. I think the more interesting thing here is why was not more done with what was gained in the study mentioned. Could it be because you cannot charge the person when they do exercise?

If one is willing to be consistent and persevere, I don't see anything wrong with trying various methods of dealing with a problem, rather than just using a machine/medication, etc. I think we as a culture (the U.S.) have gotten very lazy and short-sighted about how to get to where we want to go. For example.......About 8 years ago I had a knee problem. Doc said I absolutely needed surgery. Okay, he's the expert, so I had surgery. (meniscus repair). Then my lower leg slowly started to bow out because of the surgery. Then my foot developed a neuroma because of how I was walking on it. Now my whole body hurts because of the funky way I am walking. A couple years ago I found out that certain leg exercises can help avoid needing the surgery. I've been doing them and they obviously help.......but the damage is done. Just wish I had known of the alternatives.
So...........all I am saying is that if you feel some alternative way of dealing with something might help.........give it a try.
Personally, I'm at the point in my life where I would be doing some exercise/technique all day long to try to help all those parts of me that are failing.........so I take an easier way out.

Country4ever,

I agree with you that many times there are viable alternatives exist to conventional medical solutions. The problem is as at least for me, it is overwhelming and exhausting trying to figure out what may work and what is quackery.

As an FYI, I experienced this after dentist number one told me I needed hundreds of dollars of work. In spite of my exhaustion, I had to come up with some plan or else I was going to be hurting big time literally and figuratively.

Fortunately, dentist number two told me I didn't need any work. Frankly, to be honest, while I think my self remedies definitely helped, dentist number one was also a big time rip off artist. But my point is that if someone had chosen to do the work that number one had suggested without doing research, I would have understood based on exhausting experiences in going through the information.

Regarding throat exercises, again, because I found it tiring trying to go through the information, I haven't pursued this. And with my severe apnea, I am really wasting my time when I need to be spending it trying to make my pap therapy work and improving my health in other areas. But I have no doubt that for someone who has a mild case, that finding the right ones could be useful.

I am so sorry about your situation and can definitely relate. I wish you well.

49er

Country4ever wrote:If one is willing to be consistent and persevere, I don't see anything wrong with trying various methods of dealing with a problem, rather than just using a machine/medication, etc. I think we as a culture (the U.S.) have gotten very lazy and short-sighted about how to get to where we want to go. For example.......About 8 years ago I had a knee problem. Doc said I absolutely needed surgery. Okay, he's the expert, so I had surgery. (meniscus repair). Then my lower leg slowly started to bow out because of the surgery. Then my foot developed a neuroma because of how I was walking on it. Now my whole body hurts because of the funky way I am walking. A couple years ago I found out that certain leg exercises can help avoid needing the surgery. I've been doing them and they obviously help.......but the damage is done. Just wish I had known of the alternatives.
So...........all I am saying is that if you feel some alternative way of dealing with something might help.........give it a try.
Personally, I'm at the point in my life where I would be doing some exercise/technique all day long to try to help all those parts of me that are failing.........so I take an easier way out.

Excellent topic, and it deserves much more attention and investigation.

Poster Todso gave a url of an interesting abstract on the topic, and here (apparently) is an online blog that presents the actual exercises.

http://www.sleep-apnea-guide.com/oropha ... cises.html

On a related note, I do some similar exercises to these about 4 x week (for 5 minutes). My experience is that I have significantly lower ahi readings when I consistently do the exercises. However, with an "n" of only one, and self-reporting of observations (think potential for treatment bias here), this is only suggestive info (the confidence level is modest).

Again, great topic!

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