Appliance-Free Therapy
Whether you have an oral appliance, a CPAP machine, or neither, daily mouth and throat exercises can help treat the symptoms of sleep apnea. If done alongside additional treatment, your results may be even more noticeable.
Sleep apnea and snoring are often the results of weak muscles and areas in the throat and mouth. The following exercises are meant to strengthen the muscles in these areas to reduce the likelihood of symptoms.
Exercises for Sleep Apnea & Snoring
Tiger Yell
Though the name suggests otherwise, this exercise doesn’t involve yelling. All you have to do is open your mouth as wide as possible as if you were going to yell. Simply hold this position for five minutes to make the muscles in the back of your throat stronger.
Touch Nose
For this exercise, stick your tongue out and try to touch your nose with it. While you may not be able to actually touch your nose with your tongue, the exercise makes your jaw stronger.
Touch Chin
Similar to the previous exercise, this one consists of trying to touch your chin with your tongue.
Soft Palate Blowing
This exercise can be done more often because it only involves breathing. Start by closing your mouth and breathing in through your nose. Keeping your mouth closed, exhale and push the air out through your lips.
You’ll feel resistance in the back of your throat, but that just means the exercise is working.
Jaw Tension Relief
Sleep apnea is often worsened by tension in the jaw. To help relieve tension, close your mouth and touch the tip of your tongue to the roof. Open your mouth, keeping your tongue on the roof of your mouth until fully open.
Tongue Slide
To reduce snoring, place the tip of your tongue right behind your front teeth. Then, slide it back towards your throat, curling it. This motion helps to strengthen the muscles in your throat and neck.
Roof Smoosh
For this exercise, you’ll press your entire tongue up onto the roof of your mouth so there’s no space in between them. Hold for a couple of seconds.
Contact Us for Sleep Apnea Treatment
These exercises can drastically improve the effects of sleep apnea and snoring alongside treatment. When paired with treatment, you can improve your quality of sleep and your life.
To schedule a consultation, call us at 860-254-6189. You can also fill out our online contact form, and a member of our team will be with you right away.