Throat Muscle Exercises?

[JMG]

Has anyone come across excercises that sleep apnea sufferers can do to strengthen the throat muscles? Forgive me for the analogy, but women have Kegels...is their an OSA equivalent??

[jamiswolf]

JMG,
Awhile back there was study that demonstrated that playing the Didgeridoo daily could improve apnea and snoring by strengthening throat muscles. It's generally scoffed at, and certainly wasn't a conclusive study.

But I decided to give it a try.

The Didge is a simple instrument developed by the Australian aborigines. It's probably the first woodwind instrument.

It's a simple tube played with buzzing lips. The unique part of playing the instrument is that it involves a circular breathing technique that allows a continuous droning sound. You have to suck a quick breath in while continuing to blow out using cheeks. That's the hardest part of it.

I've been at it for several months. I've definitely found that it stresses my lungs (in a good way) encouraging deep breathing. The deep vibration alone is almost therapeutic.

I've reached a point where I can do the circular breathing and keep a drone going for a couple of minutes. I feel it's helping me, as well as being loads of fun, but I have no numbers to back up my claim.

It's primarily a rhythm instrument though the aborigines use it as a solo shamanic tool. They can mimic sounds of nature...birds and animal noises.

the instruments are fairly reasonable and truthfully, you could use a 4' chunk of pvc pipe. A hand carved wood one from Australia can cost $1500. I paid $100 for a nice sounding didge with an instructional video.

It won't improve your sex life though...
Jamis

[Mary Z]

The last I heard, from Dr. Rapoport on a video last year, was that certain throat muscle exercise such as those found in singing lessons and speech therapy may
have a positive effect on sleep apnea. The problem is that this has not been studied to any great extent. No one has isolated which particular exercises help. Using the Didgeridoo may help, but it requires a commitment to at least 20 minutes of serious playing every day. If I had the discipline I would try the Didgeridoo- it certainly couldn't hurt. As stated in the previous post they can be expensive, or very reasonable and a piece of PVC pipe may be a good place to start to see if you can learn circular breathing and stick with the discipline. If you decide to try either throat exercises or the instrument, please let us know your results.
Good luck.

[archangle]

There are a number of "apnea exercises" that have been suggested. Try googling it. At worst, they're probably harmless. It wouldn't surprise me if they helped some people.

I would not get my hopes up or spend much money on it. I suspect the success rate is low. I don't think there have been many people here who've tried it and found they needed CPAP less.

I would not bother with any alternative apnea treatment that involves paying much money. Watch out for scams.

I would definitely recommend against delaying or stopping CPAP in favor of exercises.

Wow, I bet doing didgeridoo would drive my dog absolutely nuts.

[Lizistired]

Lots of videos on youtube making them out of PVC.

[Mary Z]

Oh yeah, as Archangle said, please do these exercises in conjunction with, not in place of CPAP. If you see an improvement in your AHI, or sense of well being I would think they help you.

[sickwithapnea17]

can this help?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO8P97t ... re=related

[mars]

can this help?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO8P97t ... re=related

Hi sickwithapnea17

Wouldn't those kind of neck exercises increase the muscle mass and possibly decrease the size of the airway ?

It is not throat muscle exercises that are suggested, but vocal fold exercises as in singing etc. The etc including sighing, aaghing and aawwwing.

cheers

Mars

[sickwithapnea17]

I'm not sure, I read that osa was due to a lack of muscle tone in certain muscles
like when I wake up I have headaches, throat congestion/swelling- I'm not sure if it is from mucus or tonsils?

[mars]

I'm not sure, I read that osa was due to a lack of muscle tone in certain muscles

Yes, but they are not the same as the muscles the weightlifter is working on.

At least, that is how I understand it. Perhaps others have more information.

cheers

Mars

[Goofproof]

Maybe time would be better spent doing laps in a pool, then you would be more ready for a dunk in De-Nile. Jim

[sickwithapnea17]

I also would like to know how did I get sleep apnea when I didn't think I had it before 2 years ago. I was sleeping ok and weighed about 185- I stopped exercising and went up to 200 and ate a lot of sugars, but I think I was around 185 when I started having the sleep apnea.
I also have a cyst in my clivus, could this cause the CSA?

[jamiswolf]

sickwithapnea17 wrote: I also have a cyst in my clivus, could this cause the CSA?

I had to look that one up...part of your cranium apparently. Well, if this was a cystic infection on the inside, it could cause all manner of after effects. Did they operate and open up your cranium?

If it was just a soft tissue infection on the outside of your skull, then no it would not cause any neurological after=effects.

You mentioned central sleep apnea? Is that your problem? No amount of throat exercises will help central sleep apnea. They are also called clear airway apneas so the throat isn't misbehaving...the brain is.
Jamis