Does Exercising Your Mouth and Throat Muscles Help Reduce Snoring?

Snoring occurs when airflow is restricted, which leads to negative consequences on individuals’ lives, from lack of sleep to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and other health problems. Nevertheless, various non-surgical treatments can help reduce snoring and improve your quality of life.

How Do Mouth and Throat Exercises Reduce Snoring?

Poor tongue positioning, loose airway muscles, and mouth breathing can contribute to snoring. Those with snoring may consider remedying it with mouth and throat exercises. Targeted exercises can tone the airway and tongue muscles, and improve airflow and airway health, similar to how lifting weights at the gym tones your arms. Moreover, strong and tight muscles are less likely to relax in a position that causes airway obstruction, therefore reducing the likelihood of snoring and related airway issues. 

To reduce snoring and elicit a change in your health, it is important to stick to a training routine. As with any form of exercise, it takes time and dedication to build muscle. Mouth exercises for a minimum of ten minutes each day for three months yield the greatest success. There are numerous mouth, face, and nose exercises readily available to prevent the long-term repercussions of snoring and related airway issues.

Myofunctional Therapy

One solution is a type of mouth and throat exercise referred to as myofunctional therapy, which promotes changes in the upper airway muscles. The goal of myofunctional therapy and oropharyngeal exercises is to retrain the muscles of your mouth and throat to promote proper function and positioning. In the general population, approximately 30-40% of individuals have an orofacial myofunctional disorder (source: IAOMT).

 Our everyday habits can lead to neuromuscular imbalances that cause some muscles to work harder than others to compensate. Increases in fat tissue and reduced muscle function with age can exacerbate these imbalances. Conditions such as snoring and obstructive sleep apnea can result. A myofunctional therapist will assess and create a personalized treatment plan to help you reach your goal to positively impact your health.

Exercise Your Airway With REMplenish!

 Recent studies demonstrate myofunctional therapy decreases apnea-hypopnea index (the combined average number of apneas and hypopneas that occur per hour of sleep) by approximately 50% in adults and 62% in children. REMastered Sleep also strives to reduce the number of individuals who snore and suffer with sleep apnea with their REMplenish myo nozzle. It was strategically designed to make it easy for you to support your airway via consistent exercise, by just drinking water!

 The REMplenish myo nozzle provides targeted resistance to the muscles in your mouth and throat, helping to exercise your airway, keep it healthier, and in return reduce snoring. REMplenish myo nozzle technology tightens muscles in the throat and soft palate, reduces vibration and collapsibility, and strengthens tongue muscles, which may reduce the risk of the tongue falling back and interfering with airflow while sleeping. The REMplenish myo nozzle also promotes correct tongue resting posture—on the roof of the mouth—which helps with breathing through the day and night. 

When Should You Consult with a Doctor?

Although mouth and throat exercises can be an at-home solution, they may not work as an all-inclusive treatment for people with an underlying sleeping condition, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Those with severe snoring can use exercises in conjunction with a doctor-recommended treatment. 

Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing these signs/symptoms: 

• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Loud snoring that is often punctuated by gasping or choking sounds
• Headaches in the morning that may persist for several hours after waking up
• Dry mouth upon awakening
• Irritability or frustration
• Reduced focus
• High blood pressure 
• Excessive weight gain, obesity 
• Frequent nighttime trips to the bathroom or bedwetting in children

A healthy airway can lead to better breathing, reduced snoring, better sleep, and more energy during the day. Visit www.remasteredsleep.com to learn more about how we can help improve your airway health one sip of water at a time.