With the news this week that snoring and chronic daily headache are linked, we've compiled a list for your patients of simple exercises that help in reducing snoring frequency and volume, for those who don't want to take drugs daily.
Iif you want to know the cure thats easy,
I have news on Sleep Apnea, something everyone wants, am easy solutions to a complex problem.
Write me at
jerez598atgmaildotcom
We’re all aware of various devices which can be worn to prevent snoring , but there may be a simpler alternative that is worth a shot too. Exercises can make a significant difference to a tired snorer and their partner. The following patient information sheet can be printed to give to your patients.
Tongue and throat exercises, if practiced diligently over a period of time, may be of great benefit in reducing snoring. Repeat each of the following exercises 5 times each, twice daily:
1) Slowly open and close your mouth to its full extent, making sure the lips meet when closing.
2) Pucker your lips (as if about to kiss). Hold for a count of 10. Relax.
3) Spread your lips into a big, exaggerated smile. Hold. Relax.
4) Mix Exercises 2 & 3: Pucker-Hold-Smile-Hold.
5) Try to pucker with your mouth wide open, without closing your jaws together. Hold & relax.
6) Close your lips and press them tightly together.
7) Close your lips firmly, then make a ‘slurping’ noise, as if sipping a drink.
8) Open your mouth and stick out your tongue. Be sure your tongue comes straight out of your mouth and doesn’t go off the side. Hold, relax and repeat several times. Work toward sticking your tongue out farther each day, but still pointing straight ahead.
9) Stick out your tongue and move it slowly from corner to corner of your lips. Hold in each corner, relax and repeat several times. Be sure your tongue actually touches each corner each time.
10) Stick out your tongue and try to reach your chin with the tongue tip. Hold at the farthest extension.
11) Stick out your tongue and try to touch your nose with the tongue tip. Hold at farthest extension.
12) Stick out your tongue. Hold a spoon upright against the tip of your extended tongue and try to push it away while your hand holds the spoon in place.
13) Repeatedly stick your tongue in and out as fast as you can.
14) Flick your tongue from corner to corner as quickly as you can.
15) Move tongue all around your lips in a circle as quickly as you can, making sure you stay in constant contact.
16) Open and close mouth as quickly as you can, making sure your lips close each time.
17) Say ‘Ma-Ma-Ma-Ma’ as quickly as possible, ensuring there's an ‘em’ and an ‘ah’ sound each time.
18) Repeat with ‘La-La-La-La.’
19) Repeat with ‘Ka-Ka-Ka-Ka’ as quickly and accurately as you can.
20) Repeat with ‘Kala-Kala-Kala-Kala.’
21) Gargle loudly with warm water.
22) Sing through the vowel sounds (A-E-I-O-U) as loudly as you can (or dare). Songs like ‘Old McDonald Had a Farm’ are also good.
Chronic Headache Linked To Snoring
A new study finds a link between snoring and chronic daily headache. The study, published in the April 22 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, examined the snoring habits of people with chronic daily headache and people with occasional headaches.
Chronic daily headache was defined as people with at least 15 headaches per month. Occasional headache was defined as two to 104 headaches per year.
People with chronic daily headache were more than twice as likely to also be chronic snorers than those with occasional headaches. The result was the same even when adjusting for factors that can affect breathing in sleep, such as body mass index and alcohol intake.
'If we can show that the snoring is causing the headaches, then we may be able to stop or lessen people's headaches by treating their snoring,' said study author Ann Scher, PhD, of the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md. 'This would be a great relief to people who suffer from chronic daily headache.'
The study involved 206 people aged 18 to 65 who had suffered from chronic daily headache for five years or less and 507 people with occasional headache. Those with chronic headache had an average of 260 days with headaches per year. Those with occasional headache had an average of 24 headache days per year.
The participants were asked how often they snored, and researchers classified their headache types. Scher noted that few studies have validated the accuracy of having patients report their own snoring status. To test the validity, the researchers analysed the link between snoring and chronic daily headache data separately by gender, age, marital status and headache type and found no significant differences.
Those with chronic daily headache were more likely to be female, have a lower educational level and have been previously married (divorced, widowed or separated) than those with occasional headache.
Scher said more research is needed to determine the link between snoring and chronic daily headache. 'The headaches could be causing the snoring, or the snoring could be causing the headaches, or both,' she said. 'Chronic headache can result in disturbed sleep, and sedating medications used to treat pain can aggravate sleep-disordered breathing. On the other side, sleep deprivation or excessive sleep can trigger migraine attacks in some people.'
Thursday 20th September 2001
Jab Stops Snoring In Its Tracks
An injection in the back of the mouth can prevent snoring, reports New Scientist today.
Scott Brietzke told delegates last week at a meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology’s Head and Neck Surgery in Denver. This ‘snoreplasty’ technique is effective, relatively painless and costs only about $35 per patient.
Patients undergo treatment that involves injecting a chemical called tetradecyl sulphate into the fleshy soft palate at the back of the throat. Scar tissue is then formed which stiffens the soft palate, reducing the amount of fluttering of the tissues and hence snoring.
The technique was developed at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethseda, Maryland and can reduce the loudness of snoring from 11 decibels to 2 decibels.
Andrew Cummin of London’s Charing Cross Hospital, commented, ‘This certainly seems preferable to trimming the soft palate. Trimming the palate can cause irreparable damage. If too much of the palate is removed, patients can experience regurgitation of fizzy drinks through the nostrils, or they can have trouble swallowing.’
On Monday, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine announced another potential cure for snoring.
Further information
Further advice for patients can be found in Scott E. Dr. The Natural Way to Stop Snoring
Talkaboutsleep.com
britishsnoring
entnet.org
snoring.com
