There’s a great deal of excitement right now about the potential for snoring exercises to help you get a good night’s rest. And it’s true, some people can see significant improvement in their snoring with a set of special exercises designed to firm up the throat and soft palate. But here’s the catch: they’ve only been proven to provide limited relief after about three months. So if you’re looking for more immediate help, you’ll have to consider a different snoring solution.
Snoring Exercises: Theory and Practice
The basic theory behind snoring exercises makes sense. Essentially, the problem that causes snoring is that tissues in the mouth and throat sag downward during sleep. There are many factors that contribute to how much the tissues sag. One of these is muscle tone. Muscles that aren’t exercised get slack and are more likely to sag.
The muscles get exercised incidentally during normal workout routines, but it’s not a targeted workout, so the benefit is slight. There are other ways that you can give these muscles a workout, such as singing or playing a wind instrument including a didgeridoo, but these don’t have a lot of scientific support. To attempt to maximize the effect of exercise on snoring, an ENT developed a series of exercises that would give a targeted workout to specific muscles.
The snoring exercise routine only takes a few minutes, and it’s relatively easy, although it does involve making movements with the mouth and sounds that can make you self-conscious. But it’s all worth it if it works to reduce your snoring, right?
Science and Evidence of Snoring Exercises
Unfortunately, the actual science of snoring exercises is less inspiring than the theory. There are few scientific studies backing up the value of exercises to treat snoring. One recent article shows that after three months of practicing the exercises there seems to be some improvement of snoring. It seems to have reduced the number of loud snores each person produces. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem to improve sleep quality or daytime sleepiness.
And we also have to ask whether the sample size of this study is adequate to really answer the question on the effectiveness of exercises on snoring. With less than 40 patients total in the study, the answer is probably no.
Snoring Exercises and Other Home Care
You should consider snoring exercises like other home care options for snoring: they are worth trying, but don’t count on them, and don’t let them keep you from getting needed care.
Before you try any home care for snoring, get tested to see if you have simple snoring or sleep apnea that needs treatment.If you have simple snoring, you can try home care, if your snoring situation isn’t urgent. This means that there’s no threat of imminent violence, and no risk that you’re going to fall asleep on the road.
If you’re tired of ineffective snoring home care solutions, we offer highly effective snoring treatment. Please call (402) 493-4175 today for an appointment with an Omaha sleep dentist at the Advanced Dental Sleep Treatment Center.
