Effective Sleep Apnea Exercises To Counter Sleep Apnea Symptoms

There are a lot of ways to address sleep apnea symptoms.  For the more severe cases of symptoms like loud and constant snoring, high number and long periods of breath interruptions, depression and extreme case of EDS or daytime sleepiness, would call for a more drastic means of intervention. This could be in the form of CPAP treatment or a surgical operation.  Though sometimes costly, painful or destructive both the CPAP and sleep apnea surgery offer quick resolution to these symptoms.

For mild and moderate cases, there are sleep apnea exercises designed to ease breathing and reduce snoring.  These exercise regimens aim to firm throat and tongue muscles, thus, eliminating tissue slacking during sleep that blocks the air passage.  Like any exercises though, this don’t give immediate results.  The improvement is gradual, depending on the consistency of the exercise and the severity of the sleep apnea symptoms.

Throat exercises for sleep apnea:

·         Chewing gum exercise.  Pretend you’re chewing a gum.  Make sure that your molars are moving.  Your mouth should stay closed.  Begin with few minutes of chewing, and gradually increase duration.  Adding “mmm” sounds to your chewing will help in opening the throat wider.

·         Yawning exercise.  Simulate a yawn and make sure to open your mouth as wide as you can. You can also trust your tongue as far as it goes.

·         Vowel exercise.  Recite the vowel sounds, fast and as clearly as your can for 3-5minutes. Start the exercise routine with soft sounds and then increase the level of your voice gradually. You can end the exercise shouting.

·         Singing exercises.  Just take your favourite song and sing your heart out.

·         Swallowing exercises.  Lightly bit your tongue, and then rapidly swallow at least five times.

Tongue exercises for sleep apnea:

·        Palate push.  Touch the back of your front teeth with the tip of your tongue then slowly roll it over, backwards.

·         Lip route.  Lick both your upper and lower lips in a continuous rotating motion. Do several clockwise rounds, and then do the same going counter clockwise.

·         Tongue out.  Stick out your tongue, the farthest you can. Hold it for several seconds. Pull back, breath and repeat.

·         Tsk tsk sounds.  Again, place the tip of your tongue just behind your front teeth. Make rapid tsk tsk sounds for at least a minute. Relax and then repeat.

·         Tongue Rove.  Quickly run your tongue all over the inside of your mouth. Skim over the fronts of your teeth and then both the roof and base of your mouth.

Jaw exercises for sleep apnea:

·         Jaw stick. Clinch a pencil or a stick between your teeth for at least 10 minutes or as long as you can, just before going to sleep.

·        Jaw swing.  Position your lower jaw as far right as you can, hold for at least 30 seconds. Then swing to the right, hold again for another 30 seconds. Repeat.

There are also other sleep apnea exercise to help reduce if not eliminate sleep apnea symptoms. Yoga Nidra is a yoga regimen designed to help breathing and relaxation for better sleep.  Again, results are not overnight as it takes time to strengthen muscles and firm tissues.  The key to a successful exercise program is commitment and consistency.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms and Causes

Sleep apnea is a sleep breathing condition that the afflicted person is rarely aware of.  Sleep apnea causes the breathing gaps that occur during sleep.  Although there are a lot of telltale signs or sleep apnea symptoms, most of these signs are evident during sleep, making it impossible for the sufferer to detect.  More often than not, it is the bed partner that detects the symptoms.  Other signs that manifested during daytime are either commonplace to cause alarm or associated with other diseases.

One of the most blatant of the sleep apnea symptoms is the excessive daytime sleepiness or EDS.  It is common for apnea patients to feel sleepy while doing daily activities.  Severe cases of sleep apnea makes staying awake a challenge.  Some patients would fall asleep even without them knowing.  This usually happens during classes, during office works, reading, watching TV and even while driving.  This is a serious symptom especially when the patient is driving.  A lot of fatal road accidents have been attributed to EDS.  This symptom is credited to the patient’s inability to get restful sleep at night.

Another obvious symptom is snoring.  This also often goes without the knowledge of the patient.  Restlessness in sleep, gasping and choking for air are also sleep apnea symptoms that are better detected by the patient’s bed partner. These symptoms are due to the obstructions in the patient’s airways, making normal breathing hard.  The breathing gaps results to deprivation of the oxygen supply to the body which makes the heart pump harder. Constant stress to the heart could develop to heart failures and diseases. Obstructive sleep apnea causes include narrow airways, deviated septum, enlarged tongue, tonsils, adenoids and uvula.  These are common in people who have small jaw frames, large necks and are obese.

Depression is one symptom that is normally attributed to psychological factors.  But this is a common sleep apnea symptom in severe cases.  People who are unable to sleep well do not perform well, scholastic or career-wise.  This leads to patients being irritable, moody and frustrated.  Children often show anger and rage for unknown reasons.  The frustration over their inability to rest and perform well drew disappointments that eventually lead to depression.  Not all depressions are caused by sleep apnea, but sleep apnea certainly causes depression.

Mild sleep apnea symptoms can easily be addressed with healthier habits and sleep apnea exercises.  Constant tongue, lips and mouth exercises could toughen slack airway muscles and tissues preventing them from blocking the airways during sleep.  Keeping a good diet, active lifestyle and avoiding vices like smoking, too much alcohol intake and abusive drug use will also help in keeping sleep apnea in check.  Maintaining your ideal weight is also important.

For more severe cases of sleep apnea, patients can either undergo corrective surgeries to remove the obstructions. They can also opt for the CPAP treatment that involves wearing masks that provide the steady supply of pressurized air.  CPAP is not a cure though.  The treatment only alleviates breathing and eliminates sleep apnea symptoms.  It does not remove the blockages that cause the disorder.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms You Should Know

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder wherein patients are usually the last to know or observe the symptoms. As indications of the breathing disorder only manifest when the patient is asleep, more often than not, he is unaware of his problem. The most common and identifiable sleep apnea symptoms are observed by the sufferers’ family, most specifically their bed partner.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms Patients Cannot Observe

1.        Snoring – Loud and incessant snoring cannot be heard or observed by the snorer. It is their bad partners that gets hears and put up with the noise.

2.      Long breath pauses – This also happens when the patient is asleep. Sometimes, even the husband or wife isn’t aware of this happening too, unless keenly observed.

3.       Choking and gasping – This is another sleep apnea symptom that is oblivious to the sufferer.

4.        Restless sleep – This includes a lot of tossing and turning. Excessive sweating due to the activity or to the extreme effort of breathing is also a sleep apnea indicator.

5.        Mouth breathers – Unless the patient has a severe case of colds or flu that congests his nasal airways, this is another sleep apnea warning sign.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms that Patients Can Observe

1.        Unexplained daytime sleepiness – If you thought you’d had enough sleep yet still longs for the bed the day after, feels tired and dizzy and can’t seem to perk up, you could be suffering from sleep apnea.

2.        Dry mouth, headaches in the morning – Do you have chronic morning headaches? Ever wonder why you always wake up dry-mouthed? This is also usually accompanied with sore throat.

3.        Multiple sleep disruptions – Can’t sleep the night thru? Do you have multiple trips to the bathroom?  Do you usually wake up gasping for air? You might consider asking your bed partner if you snore.

4.        Difficulty to concentrate – Most patients have hard time concentrating even in simple tasks. This leads to poor performance at work or at school.

5.        Depression – People who are continually sleepy and unable to sustain energy throughout the day often feel inadequate and frustrated. This leads to bouts of depression.

6.       Unexpected daytime naps – People who are suffering from sleep apnea could fall asleep sitting up while driving, reading, working and eating. This could prove dangerous as it could result to road accidents and very embarrassing like sleeping in unsuitable places like in a bus, classrooms and even behind the wheel.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms in Children

1.        Short attention span – A lot of children exhibit impatience and don’t have sleep apnea, but if your child have the other symptoms, you should be consulting a doctor.

2.        Moodiness, irritable, hostile – If your child is angry without any particular reason, check for underlying health problems.

3.        Mouth breather – A healthy person even a child should be breathing through the nose when sleeping.

4.        Poor scholastic performance – This could be aggravated with sleeping spiels in the classroom.

5.        Restless in bed – Disturbed sleep, sweating, restlessness, bed-wetting, sleep-walking and even nightmares.

6.        Snoring – Children who snore have a high risk of suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.

Mild sleep apnea can be remedied by proper sleeping positioning, better food choices and healthier lifestyle. There are also simple sleep apneaexercises that could help the patient breathe easier.  Easy tongue exercisesfor sleep apnea can alleviate some of the sleep apnea symptoms shown above.