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Throat exercises can alleviate sleep apnea

Written by: David Castillo on May 28th, 2010

Throat exercises can alleviate sleep apnea | read this item

Sleep apnea is typically treated with the help of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask. However, a recent study suggests that throat exercises could be an effective treatment also.

While CPAP masks are proven, they are expensive. And most patients say that these masks are hard to sleep with and uncomfortable.

Strengthening the throat can be an alternative treatment. While this method is not as proven as CPAP, studies suggest that they can help reduce sleep apnea severity by building muscles around the airway, preventing the constriction of the airway—which is what basically happens when one has a sleep apnea episode.

Last year, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine published a study where scientists examined a group of sleep apnea patients. The group was split into two: one group for the throat exercises—swallowing and chewing motions—and the other group performed breathing exercises.

After three months, the throat exercise group snored less, slept better, and reduced the severity of their sleep apnea by around 40 percent. The other group, on the other hand, showed no improvements.

Source: NYTimes