Device-less tongue stabilization idea

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
metallikat36
Posts: 90
Joined: Tue Oct 10, 2017 3:17 pm

Device-less tongue stabilization idea

Post by metallikat36 » Wed Apr 10, 2019 1:09 am

So for years I was unknowingly doing tongue stabilization to improve my sleep before my diagnosis. I would close my mouth, create suction inside my mouth (like you are trying to swallow saliva), and then touch the tip of my tongue to the point where the back of your upper middle teeth meet with the hard palate. I could actually get the tip of the tongue anchored to that spot by suction. I would sleep like that all night.

Today I had a more aggressive idea. So I create suction in my mouth and swallow. Then I carefully slide my tongue out of the mouth, through my lips. The mouth is never opening when this is done. The lips continue to keep a seal around the tongue. Once my tongue is protruding out of my mouth, I again create some more suction in my mouth, and again swallow. If done properly, There are several factors which actually keep the tongue stable in this position:

1. The inside of both the upper and lower lips have some suction against the tongue.
2. The middle of the tongue is actually suctioned to the roof of the mouth upon the second swallow. I think this might also be pulling down the soft palate slightly.
3. The lips themselves can be a little sticky, and as the air dries the tongue and the lips, that helps a tad.
4. The teeth are somewhat biting into the tongue.

I am not saying this works or that it is a good idea. I am just saying it's food for thought. A golden rule of think-tanks is to come up with as many ideas as possible, without labeling any of them bad, yet knowing that almost all will be rejected.

One upside of this is there is no drooling or uncomfortable saliva to deal with, as with tongue stabilization devices. But there are two main downsides:

1. The teeth pressing into the tongue is not gonna make a person happy after a few hours. Some type of padding on the edge of the teeth or on the tongue itself would be needed. A tried a bite guard over my lower teeth, but it changes the physical parameters and the needed suctions are no longer created in the same way.
2. This tongue position is only really semi-stable. It would need some extra help somewhere to be reliable enough to use. Perhaps some type of sticky foodsafe body glue or dental glue could glue the lips to hte top and bottom of the protruding tongue. Or else something could be put on the tongue or the lips that increases friction between the two.

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