Musical instruments that need circular breathing

I have been told I might improve my sleep apnea by taking up playing a musical instrument that requires I do circular breathing. Is this false?

Do any of you play such an instrument? Did you play one while you are growing up? Do any of you encourage the children, grandchildren in your family to take up such an instrument with the hopes they can avoid the unpleasant, but I am grateful it exists, use of sleep apnea equipment?

purple22 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:22 pm

I have been told I might improve my sleep apnea by taking up playing a musical instrument that requires I do circular breathing. Is this false?

It's a pipe dream.

Choo Choo Train with a whistle and a round track! Jim

palerider wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:32 pm

purple22 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:22 pm

I have been told I might improve my sleep apnea by taking up playing a musical instrument that requires I do circular breathing. Is this false?

It's a pipe dream.

ISWYDT

zonker wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:51 pm

palerider wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:32 pm

purple22 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:22 pm

I have been told I might improve my sleep apnea by taking up playing a musical instrument that requires I do circular breathing. Is this false?

It's a pipe dream.

ISWYDT

sleep apnea treatment is not about expanding or strengthening your lungs. sleep apnea treatment is about using a cpap to get air pressure in the airway to splint the airway open so you can breathe. cpap does not expand or strengthen your lungs.

LSAT wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 8:11 pm

http://sleepapneadidgeridoo.com/didgeri ... nt-of-osa/

I wonder if strengthening throat area muscles and making them more lean will result in less ahi?

The person who first told me was a sleep doc who had a lot of years of experience. Something about changing the airways. I thought I would ask you all if you had any experience, one way or the other. Most of the replies seems to be "Off the top of my head" you are goofy. I am goofy, but it what has been said on this issue mostly does not prove it.

purple22 wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:07 am

The person who first told me was a sleep doc who had a lot of years of experience. Something about changing the airways. I thought I would ask you all if you had any experience, one way or the other. Most of the replies seems to be "Off the top of my head" you are goofy. I am goofy, but it what has been said on this issue mostly does not prove it.

Well, just because a sleep doc with a lot of years of experience says something, doesn't make it true.

No matter how strong and 'toned' your muscles are, when you're asleep... *they relax*. Might it help? maybe... might it lower the AHI if you practice *every day* ... maybe. Are there any credible stories of someone, who's practiced and worked a couple hours *every day* becoming cured... no. and when you quit that every day exercise, you go back to where you were.

Calling the studies I've seen on this "shaky" is being generous, I think there may be some benefit, but you'd be better off spending the 20 minutes doing some light cardio.

There are some exercises used by speech therapists for stroke victims (myofunctional therapy) which have shown promise, those ones can be done while doing other things. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29275425 is one metastudy but there are others I've seen.

The list is sooooooo long.
Natural selection.
It is impossible to push logic on those who believe in hogwash.
The hog-washers are legion--we can only protect ourselves while
their lemmings stampede into the sea.

purple22 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 30, 2018 7:22 pm

I have been told I might improve my sleep apnea by taking up playing a musical instrument that requires I do circular breathing.

If you've never played a musical instrument, try it! When you can play well, post some videos. But, keep using your CPAP.

For the naysayers that say it's all hogwash... Their studies - some of which are not half bad - that show that playing instruments that involve circular breathing can "HELP" with sleep apnea. From one study the median average showed an improvement of about 50%... but, say if your AHI was in the mid 20's and you saw a 50% improvement... you'd still be left with an AHI in the mid to low teens... Which for most people would still be horrible.

"I'd feel like someone ran me over with a car, if my AHI was that high" It may "improve" your apnea but changes are incredibly high that it won't fix it completely.

What I'm getting at is.. if you think playing an instrument that could help would be "FUN" in and of it's self. Then by all means pick up that instrument and go for it. "But as some like to joke, don't quit your day job". Your XPAP machine is the "day job" it's bringing home the bacon. It's what is keeping you healthy and doing the best job at treating your apnea.

Now... if by some chance you become a didgeridoo virtuoso and your practicing on it 2 or 3 or more+++ hours a day and get tested in a sleep lap for apnea and find out you don't have it anymore... Then Great!!!!!!!!

But, I still wouldn't give up using CPAP in favor of playing an instrument. Unless you get tested in a lab first and put forth the effort to practice every single day from now and for the rest of your life, and even then doing periodic follow ups to make sure as you age that your apnea doesn't come back anyway, even with your constant instrument playing. XPAP is known to help treat apnea, and with data capable machines you can see if it's working and see when it's not. With using the above method to try and treat apnea there's no feedback other then how you feel. So their is a much greater risk of not treating your apnea correctly and not knowing your putting your self at risk of complications.

Using a XPAP is so much easier then having to devote time in your day to playing/practicing on an instrument. "Unless, You already love playing that instrument anyway"

Don't spend waking hours of your life trying to do something to treat your sleep apnea unless that thing is it's own reward. You can treat your apnea just fine while your dreaming.

Rest well,

Gryphon

Practicing any musical instrument is not advisable if your neighbors are bothered by it.