Insurance Pays for Didgeridoo

[roster]

http://www.classicbattletech.com/forums ... msg1072738

Bob is treating sleep apnea with a didgeridoo and his health insurance is paying for it.

[speshe]

I had heard that helped strengthen the muscles and was thinking about trying it! Circular breathing sounds difficult though.

[silver123]

Yoga will help you with breathing and it is no where as difficult as a dige.

silver

[DreamStalker]

Sticking a hollow stick up the butt strengthens the muscles too and circular farting isn't all that difficult.

Just jesting ... don't take it personally

[Goofproof]

Isn't "Bob" the one doing the viagra sales on T.V. I hope we don't have the same stupid INS co, although they may not be so stupid, they don't have to buy XPAP equiptment, and when the treatment he dies and doesn't need health INS. All they will need to do is find another fool to sign up with their INS co. Jim

[debtheveg]

Hello,

There you all go again, being so negative about something that may be an alternative to cpap. I know most of you guys are literally hooked on your machines, but some of us have tried and have had a hard time with it and are now looking for alternative treatments.

Twenty five years ago, if people had just been accepting of having a tracheotomy, cpaps would not have been developed.

You never know where all ideas may lead - and if it means we can all have a better quality of life, it has to be a good thing.

Deb

[DreamStalker]

Well I'm sure we are all glad that your alternate treatment is working out for you ... good luck with that.

[debtheveg]

Hi Dreamstalker,

I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic, wishing me luck, but if not, thank you.

In fact I haven't yet moved on but am investigating options. I tried cpap for two months, felt even worse than before (if possible) and am now waiting for an appointment in January with a dentist specialising in dental devices for OSA. At the same time, I'm intending to try the didgeridoo to strengthen my throat muscles and am endeavouring to lose some weight.

In the end, I may well end up back on cpap, but I really, really hope not as I really, really hated it. I started off with an optimistic attitude and had hoped for a good outcome, but it wasn't for me. For all of you who do well with it, that's great. I'm just hoping to get to feel that good by other means.

Deb

[sleepycarol]

The alternatives rarely work -- and then you have those that swear by them only to have no real proof that they are "cured".

How long have you had SA? For myself it was probably years of build up of poor sleep and oxygen starvation. I had enough sense to know that it would take a long time to undo all the damage to my body -- it has been a long journey back and am still traveling along the path to recovery.

In the meantime, while you are investigating "other" methods to cure your apnea are you doing anything to prevent oxygen starvation to your body? If not, I hope you continue to wake up in the mornings.

Good luck in your quest and remember we are here when all else fails (although since you are continuing to visit the forum where cpap is endorsed and used by nearly all, you probably have doubts in your own mind about the alternative treatments.)

[LinkC]

Current research says it doesn't really help with OSA, but after listening to digeridoo music, the snoring doesn't seem so bad after all!
Will insurance also pay for digeridoo LESSONS? (If there IS such a thing!) How about playing a harmonica really LOUD? Will a CPAP machine cure you from being Australian?

[roster]

Current research says it doesn't really help with OSA, ......

For those of you who may have taken my post seriously, note that LinkC is giving you the truth.

As far as my post, note that it is only referencing a post by "Bob" in a forum. For all we know, Bob's insurance company may get a big laugh while stamping "Rejected" on his claim for reimbursement of a didgeridoo purchase.

[silver123]

I was not trying to be negative. I think anything that helps maintain and support healthy repsiration is positive. As we age, we lost a lot of respiratory tonicity. Personally, I had stopped swimming regularly becuase I was so exhausted from the OSA. Swimming involves breath control and deep breathing a bit more than most aerobic exercise and I had lost some of that. I started doing Yoga as I got on CPAP because I realized how much I had lost. Yoga works with the breath quite intensively and it has helped me regain volume and tonicity. I'm swimming again.

I think any kind of wind instrument playing or singing can help a lot. I don't know that it will help with the issues of the kind of collapse of the upper airway that many of us experience during sleep to the point of prevention. It certainly can't hurt.

It looks like a pretty demanding instrument to learn. I hope you enjoy it and that it helps you. And I hope you let us know how it goes.

silver

[Goofproof]

Hello,

There you all go again, being so negative about something that may be an alternative to cpap. I know most of you guys are literally hooked on your machines, but some of us have tried and have had a hard time with it and are now looking for alternative treatments.

Twenty five years ago, if people had just been accepting of having a tracheotomy, cpaps would not have been developed.

You never know where all ideas may lead - and if it means we can all have a better quality of life, it has to be a good thing.

Deb

The reason XPAP was needed instead of a tracheotomy, is a Tracheotomy is invasive sugery, that comes with many risks the worst probably infection. Compare that that to filling your airway with clean air under pressure, no cutting of body, it becomes a no brainer.

Howerve I can see a use for having a Didgeridoo, when drowning in DeNile, it can be used as a paddle. However it would be more effective to buy a pair of them, then they could be used as oars. With luck and a little exercise, you might make it to the bank, if so you could rub them together, and start a fire, could be very useful for sure. Jim

[roster]

.......I think any kind of wind instrument playing or singing can help a lot. I don't know that it will help with the issues of the kind of collapse of the upper airway that many of us experience during sleep to the point of prevention. .........

The claim about obstructive sleep apnea made by didgeridoo proponents is that, unlike any other musical instrument, it will add tone to the muscles in the upper airway.

[DreamStalker]

I'm thinking it helps tone or firm up the soft pallate more specifically. As such, it is likely that exercising the soft upper pallate could help to control mouth leaks when using CPAP. But unless playing th dig will decrease the size of the tongue (and I'm pretty sure that doesn't happen), it is not reasonalbe to expect it to help prevent OSA. I don't think playing it will hurt anything although whenever I have tried to play a wind instrument it gives me a headache ... maybe gives others a headache too