Retraining Throat Muscles to Control Sleep Apnea

[borgready]

Has anyone ever hear of anything about retraining the throat reflex muscle controls? This is the throats muscle control system that functions while you are asleep. The theory would be that the muscle tissue at the back of the throat relaxes to much causing the airway to be cut off. Is it possibel to retrain that nerve network so that those muscles would not relax and thus the airway would stay open naturally. I had an interesting side effect from surgery. They put some kind of device in the throat to keep the airway open when your under anesthesia. I don't know exactly what they do or the device that is used. I have noticed that I have not had as much problems sleeping since that surgery. My guess is that the drug puts you out and then they insert that device in the thoat. That process most likely causes the nerves in the throat to be over stimulated. You have a gag reflex when awake. I don't know what happens when your asleep with a drug. This is something to think about. It sure would be nice to just go in for a treatment that retrains the muscle nerve reflexes in the throat. Let me know if you have heard anything related to this or experienced a similiar side effect from a surgery you had.

[Goofproof]

If you nerves could be trained to hold you airway open, don't you think it would have done it before you died from sleep apnea.

De-Nile or the Gold Standard, your choice. Nature will sort it out, if you want to use the De-Nile Method. Jim

[rocklin]

If you nerves could be trained to hold you airway open, don't you think it would have done it before you died from sleep apnea.

Hi Jim. But isn't it much like throwing a baby into a lake?

"If man could be trained to swim, then, well . . .well then, your body would have done it before you died from drowning", yes?

De-Nile or The Gold Standard, your choice.

Not my choice.

For the entire industry that has sprung up around it, the Gold Standard is indeed, gold.

But one day, perhaps sooner than you might think, a new concept may light up the sleepy meadow of sleep medicine like an arcing, sizzling, angry flare in the night.

[Mary Z]

"Hypoglossal nerve stimulation" - the implant under study as a cure for sleep apnea.

[Goofproof]

"Hypoglossal nerve stimulation" - the implant under study as a cure for sleep apnea.

That doesn't require training, just a sharp knife and a good battery. Jim

[jamiswolf]

Borgready,
In the operating room, they give you drugs to paralyze the respiratory muscles and use a machine to breath for you. The thing in your throat is just an endotracheal tube which has a soft low-pressure balloon that's inflated to minimize risk of aspiration of saliva. Not sure why it would improve your snoring even temporarily.

There are indications that voice use can strengthen throat muscles. Singing or oratory.

There also is a study showing that the Australian aboriginal woodwind instrument...the Didgeridoo can improve throat muscle tone and can help with apnea and snoring. It has to be done regularly. It uses a tricky breathing technique called circular breathing which involves breathing out through the mouth while sipping air in through the nose. I bought one and try and play it daily but like any discipline...it takes effort. I can do the circular breathing now after several months and feel it is improving my breathing.

So there are things you can do...
Jamis

[moresleep]

Retraining throat muscles won't do you any harm, so long as you continue with the Cpap, and if you go the digeridoo route, you will learn a new instrument in the process. So, why not? Let us know if it seems to help...

[chunkyfrog]

Sounds like too much work for me.
I kind of prefer plugging in and zonking out.

[M.D.Hosehead]

Isn't that the idea behind digeridoo for OSA?

The problem is that it's no small undertaking. The circular breathing is an elusive trick, not that many people are willing to spend 3 hours or so per week blowing into a dige., and not that many spouses, neighbors and pets are willing to endure it.

[SleepyT]

Sounds like too much work for me.
I kind of prefer plugging in and zonking out.

[Jay Aitchsee]

Any success stories?

[chunkyfrog]

Grave-robbing is probably illegal!

[Goofproof]

Has anyone ever hear of anything about retraining the throat reflex muscle controls? This is the throats muscle control system that functions while you are asleep. The theory would be that the muscle tissue at the back of the throat relaxes to much causing the airway to be cut off. Is it possibel to retrain that nerve network so that those muscles would not relax and thus the airway would stay open naturally. I had an interesting side effect from surgery. They put some kind of device in the throat to keep the airway open when your under anesthesia. I don't know exactly what they do or the device that is used. I have noticed that I have not had as much problems sleeping since that surgery. My guess is that the drug puts you out and then they insert that device in the thoat. That process most likely causes the nerves in the throat to be over stimulated. You have a gag reflex when awake. I don't know what happens when your asleep with a drug. This is something to think about. It sure would be nice to just go in for a treatment that retrains the muscle nerve reflexes in the throat. Let me know if you have heard anything related to this or experienced a similiar side effect from a surgery you had.

Did the brain cells that normally tell your airway to remain open die, if so I think retraining is past. Swim out of De-Nile to dry sand. Jim

[JeffL]

Isn't that the idea behind digeridoo for OSA?

The problem is that it's no small undertaking. The circular breathing is an elusive trick, not that many people are willing to spend 3 hours or so per week blowing into a dige., and not that many spouses, neighbors and pets are willing to endure it.

FWIW, I went to a free lesson at http://www.laoutback.com/, where I was told that you needn't do circular breathing to benefit from playing the dige. It's the vibrations from the instrument that strengthens the throat. I haven't yet been able to do circular breathing (which is essentially blowing out air stored in you cheeks, while refilling your lungs), and unfortunately, I rarely think about playing my dige.

[archangle]

This is an excellent idea that makes a lot of sense. I always thought something like a snore activated shock collar might train you not to keep your airway open.

Unfortunately, none of these ideas seem to work.

There's a lot of talk about using a didgeridoo, but from what I've seen, the benefits are small, take a lot of work, and not many people have success.

There are some other exercises that have been recommended, but there is little evidence they do any good.

Maybe someone will find the magic trick that trains your body to keep the airway open at night. Until then, there's CPAP.