Mouth exercises

[jeresoph]

Hello everyone:

From time to time I come across a video with various exercises to strengthen different parts of the tongue and oral cavity to help in the battle against sleep apnea. The better ones don't claim that all will be well after doing a few of these exercises and you can then throw away your Cpap machine. But they all require regular effort to strengthen said mouth. My question is I'm up for these exercises if the consensus is that they can additionally help the flow of air to the promised land. What are your thoughts about investing a certain amount of one's time to improve thigs this way? Are the benefits real or merely marginal?

Thanks as always for any advice.

[chunkyfrog]

You obviously hate cpap, and will try any foolishness to stop being tied to a device.

[ChicagoGranny]

What are your thoughts about investing a certain amount of one's time to improve thigs this way?

Your time would be much better spent learning OSCAR and getting forum members to help you optimize your CPAP therapy.

[Respirator99]

The was some work done a few years ago which indicated that playing the didgeridoo strengthened throat muscles and had a measurable effect on obstructive apnea for a small cohort of patients. The problem is the didg is really difficult to play and you might end up alienating your family and neighbours.

[remoo1]

If you can train the tongue to stay on the roof of your mouth and keep the lips sealed it solves a lot of problems

[cyberdreamer]

Hello everyone:

From time to time I come across a video with various exercises to strengthen different parts of the tongue and oral cavity to help in the battle against sleep apnea. The better ones don't claim that all will be well after doing a few of these exercises and you can then throw away your Cpap machine. But they all require regular effort to strengthen said mouth. My question is I'm up for these exercises if the consensus is that they can additionally help the flow of air to the promised land. What are your thoughts about investing a certain amount of one's time to improve thigs this way? Are the benefits real or merely marginal?

Thanks as always for any advice.

AFAIK, there's some research showing reduced AHI with aerobic exercise or upper airway exercises like playing the didgeridoo. However, these are very likely adjunctive therapies, not sufficient to supplant PAP use. I reckon it's possible to achieve lower pressures at best.

[chunkyfrog]

Somehow, it seems to me the OP is grasping for a way around using cpap.
If he is that determined, he will not be swayed by our logic.
My best advice is to pay for his last expenses NOW, and wait for the inevitable.

[jeresoph]

Hey Chunky:
Are you a mind reader? I wouldn’t advise changing your career to become a professional psychic. I have no intention of giving up my most treasured possession, my resmed life saver. But I was wondering if a combination of said device plus efforts to develop the most muscular and flexible oral cavity would improve my results. If not, well, my wife might enjoy my new found gift of oral potential.

[Pugsy]

But I was wondering if a combination of said device plus efforts to develop the most muscular and flexible oral cavity would improve my results. If not, well, my wife might enjoy my new found gift of oral potential.

I have never read anything about proof that any sort of oral exercises doing anything to improve air flow for OSA patients.
BUT...OSA comes about because of floppy airway tissues for most of us and one could wonder.
To be honest...I never really thought about it much to cause me to want to go looking for associated documentation though.
Doesn't mean it isn't out there ...only means I haven't looked.

My personal opinion...if exercise did do much we would have heard about it and there would be lots of documentation because insurance would sure more likely promote exercise than just up and paying for all this cpap stuff.

Though I am sure it wouldn't hurt and if the side benefit is a happy wife....well you know what they say about a happy wife. And your wife would probably tell you that the exercises needed to make a happy wife would probably benefit your OSA therapy as well. Wink..wink. At least that is what I would tell my husband if he had OSA.

[Janknitz]

Exercise is (almost) always a good thing, so it never hurts to try. It might help in optimizing therapy. I imagine there is a very small group of people who have mild OSA in the first place who MIGHT no longer need CPAP, but show me the longitudinal large scale study before I take that without a grain of salt. Like diets, long term sustainability is likely to be small.

OTOH, it's folly to ASSUME that one is "cured" because of said exercise and stop using CPAP. Even if it's confirmed by a sleep study, one would need periodic retesting to ensure that OSA is still at bay.

And remember, floppy airway tissue isn't the only cause of OSA. A small and compromised airway because of anatomical structure isn't going to improve with exercise.

[ChicagoGranny]

But I was wondering if a combination of said device plus efforts to develop the most muscular and flexible oral cavity would improve my results.

You can do this easily and cheaply by wearing a foam cervical collar. A collar holds the neck/spine in the best position for airway patency.

[jeresoph]

But I was wondering if a combination of said device plus efforts to develop the most muscular and flexible oral cavity would improve my results. If not, well, my wife might enjoy my new found gift of oral potential.

I have never read anything about proof that any sort of oral exercises doing anything to improve air flow for OSA patients.
BUT...OSA comes about because of floppy airway tissues for most of us and one could wonder.
To be honest...I never really thought about it much to cause me to want to go looking for associated documentation though.
Doesn't mean it isn't out there ...only means I haven't looked.

My personal opinion...if exercise did do much we would have heard about it and there would be lots of documentation because insurance would sure more likely promote exercise than just up and paying for all this cpap stuff.

Though I am sure it wouldn't hurt and if the side benefit is a happy wife....well you know what they say about a happy wife. And your wife would probably tell you that the exercises needed to make a happy wife would probably benefit your OSA therapy as well. Wink..wink. At least that is what I would tell my husband if he had OSA.

Pugsy, you make me laugh. Send your husband any number of these You tube videos and then lie back and sleep well.

[jeresoph]

But I was wondering if a combination of said device plus efforts to develop the most muscular and flexible oral cavity would improve my results.

You can do this easily and cheaply by wearing a foam cervical collar. A collar holds the neck/spine in the best position for airway patency.

I shall check out this look. Wearing a CPAP mask is plenty ugly so why not double down with a cervical collar? I guess if this proves too much for her there's always the guest bedroom.

[palerider]

Hello everyone:

From time to time I come across a video with various exercises to strengthen different parts of the tongue and oral cavity to help in the battle against sleep apnea.... My question is I'm up for these exercises if the consensus is that they can additionally help the flow of air to the promised land. What are your thoughts about investing a certain amount of one's time to improve thigs this way?

Your airway doesn't close off because your muscles are weak, it closes off because things relax.

No amount of 'strengthening' will ever change that, but hey, go ahead and knock yourself out..

Report back when your tongue can do 100 pushups.

[palerider]

If you can train the tongue to stay on the roof of your mouth and keep the lips sealed it solves a lot of problems

That's like "training" your shoulders to stay back and and your chest out (ie, good posture) which means *nothing* when you're asleep.