Anyone else playing the didgeridoo to help with apnea?

Jacob · Post by **Jacob** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:28 am

I just read the whole thread. No way it's spam but I can see where it feels like it. I have a friend that plays didgeridoo and I never thought about the breathing that's involoved as helping with my OSA. Got to give it a try now.

path2others · Post by **path2others** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 11:36 am

I bought a "didge" several years ago. My wife, a violinist, found it to as "musical" as bagpipes. Since I don't have a garage or basement and in the interest in saving our marriage, I found it makes a quite interesting wall decoration. BTW I play tuba and it did not make a difference with my sleep apnea. Don

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 4:11 pm

I saw that guy on YANNI playing it last night, but since he didn't have bags under his eyes I couldn't tell if he had OSA.

stut · Post by **stut** » Mon Aug 21, 2006 9:17 pm

I am getting a didg for my birthday in hopes that it will enable me to go on a trip for my 60th birthday w/o the damn cpap machine. I want to travel on the Silk Route from North West China going East and I don't want to worry either about dependable electricity or lugging the machine w/me.

My wife is an MD and she read the study. Her response was what do you have to lose.

Are you taking lessons or using an instructional video????

Glad to hear you are noticing some difference!!!!

sam

Chase · Post by **Chase** » Sat Aug 26, 2006 10:51 pm

I'm trying to get my doctor to wrtite me a prescription for a didgeridoo! Anyone else have any luck with that?

stut · Post by **stut** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 9:50 pm

At my next MD appointment I am going to try and get a scrip for a didgeridoo.... can't wait to present it for reimbursement to the company that manages my medical savings account..... I will let you know.....

sam

Ric · Post by **Ric** » Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:45 pm

stut wrote:At my next MD appointment I am going to try and get a scrip for a didgeridoo.... can't wait to present it for reimbursement to the company that manages my medical savings account..... I will let you know.....

sam

Rx Didgeridoo #1

Sig: PO BID/TID ut dict. PRN relief, esp. HS et ad lib

Not to be used internally !

X generic substitution ok

<UnintelligibleScribble>

yardbird · Post by **yardbird** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:53 am

You can make a didjeridoo to practice on out of PVC pipe. Just get a piece of inch and a half PVC pipe about 48 inches long. The edge of the pipe is too "squared off" when you cut it, so you'll need to round it off a bit to make it more comfortable.

CAUTION!!!
You do NOT want to breath PVC dust. You can use wet/dry sandpaper and actually sand it under running water or in a bucket of water...

OR...

You can go to a pool supply place or plumbing supply place that has lots of fittings and just stick a fitting on the end that's not so squared off. Reducing teh diameter a little will also make it easier to play. An inside diameter of about an inch to an inch and an eigth would be good for a beginner.

If you have the time and inclination, use a 3 foot piece of inch and a half with a reducing coupler to a one foot piece of inch and a quarter which will have a little nicer inside diameter. The smaller diameter to larger one will also provide better backpressure which you will appreciate if you are going to try to learn circular breathing.

I've played didj about 2 years now. It hasn't helped a bit. But it IS enjoyable to play. I now own a real aboriginal eucalyptus didj, an agave didj, and a couple of pvc ones that I made.

I also build and play native american style flutes and this fall I will be trying my hand at making a Fujara, about a 5 foot long overtone flute from Slovakia.

None of this has helped my apnea really, but all that time in the workshop makes me sleep better.

seth · Post by **seth** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:12 pm

The aboriginal fella palying didge with the Yanni show is named David Hudson. I have three of his CDs and the best one is "Yigi Yigi". You can get them from the L.A. Outback site: http://www.laoutback.com/music/shop/musicsolo.html

OSethA

Todds · Post by **Todds** » Wed Aug 30, 2006 5:20 pm

To get my original post back on track... Those of you that are currently playing the didge for OSA, how often and how long do you play each day/week, and do you use the "circular breathing" technique?

I believe that the circular breathing technique is what strengthens and tightens everything in the throat/pallette. I play almost every day for at least 15 minuets, but usually 20-30 when I'm really having fun. For me, I'm undergoing a follow-up sleep study in 2 weeks to see if I have any improvement in my (previously bad) sleep scores. I feel like I have made some progress with the didge as I'm much less sleepy during the day, but only the results of my next scores will tell for sure. Wish me luck.

Todd S

yardbird · Post by **yardbird** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 9:21 am

Todds-

I DO wish you luck, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that if there is any improvement at all, it will be marginal at best. Playing the didge or really any other instrument that requires breath control, punctuated breaths, and even circular breathing, will definitely tone up muscles used in breathing. Most of what you are exercising is diaphram. If you circular breathe then you are getting a lot more exercise in the throat where I think most obstruction occurs during sleep. But I propose that unless your obstructive apnea is due to severely poor condition of throat muscles, you probably are not going to see significant improvement.

I HOPE that I am wrong in this prediction. Although I have grown rather fond of my APAP, it would be nice to know the relationship can end without detriment.

In my own case, my obstruction happens due to severe atrophe of neck muscles as a result of nerve damage from a couple of very bad auto accidents. So it's really no surprise to me that exercise isn't helping, given what I'm starting with.

I wish you the best in this experiment.

Good luck

Todds · Post by **Todds** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:15 pm

Thanks for the good wishes. I just got a new bird call sound out of my didge today and it's been making my dog sing.

Todd S

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Thu Aug 31, 2006 8:31 pm

How does one learn circular breathing, anyway? Can it not be done with singing, as well?

Any tips from any who have mastered this? I'm heading right out to Google the topic, but there is nothing like a first-hand experienced "expert" to give those little hints and fixes.

Todds · Post by **Todds** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 3:01 pm

Let's call "circular breathing" CB for short. The term conjures up a seemingly impossible physio-mechanical feat. You obviously can't breath in and out at the same time... What you're actually doing is using your mouth/tongue like a bellows to push a tiny bit of air OUT, while simultaneously grabing a quick sniff of air IN through the nose. When playing the didgeridoo you use this action to keep your lips vibrating (which is what causes the sound of a didj drone). This allows the player to play continuosly without having to take breaks for a new breath.

Most didgeridoo players learn this technique in a few days to a few weeks, depending upon how much they actually practice. The technique is used in other wind instruments as well, but it is easiest to learrn on a didgeridoo.

Oh, so naturally you can't CB during singing because sniffing air in will cut off the vocal chords. And remember that with a didgeridoo it's all lips, not lungs, so you don't need strong lungs or special training to play one. Just doo it!

Tood S

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Sep 04, 2006 11:18 pm

Here's a cool video of a young man playing the didgeridoo on L.A.Outback's website: http://www.laoutback.com/didgeridoo/cli ... _plays.mov

I hope the link works but if not just go to http://www.laoutback.com, click on "Agave" didgeridoos, then click on the video camera at the top of the page.

Todd S

Anyone else playing the didgeridoo to help with apnea?

Didgeridoo

MD and Didgeridoo

Re: MD and Didgeridoo

Circular Breathing

"Circular" breathing