Sleep apnoea and snoring
Sleep apnoea is a common but serious sleep disorder characterised by repeated interruptions in breathing during the night. It is estimated that up to 10 million people in the UK suffer with sleep apnoea affecting men more than women.
The most prevalent form, Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat relax during sleep, causing the airway to narrow or collapse.
Breathing against a narrowed airway is hard and may lead to fragmented sleep, snoring, and a drop in blood oxygen levels. Individuals may experience headaches especially in the morning, a dry mouth, breathlessness, poor concentration and feeling exhausted during the day.
While Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy during sleep remains the gold standard for treatment this only addresses the structural cause while in place, it doesn’t fix the overall problem. Breathing and oropharyngeal exercises (often called myofunctional therapy) have emerged as powerful tools for strengthening the airway and reducing the severity of symptoms.
How Breathing Exercises Help
The primary goal of these exercises is to improve the tone and coordination of the muscles surrounding the airway. Just as you would lift weights to strengthen your biceps, targeted movements can train the tongue, soft palate, and throat muscles to remain firm and open rather than floppy and obstructive during sleep.
Research suggests that consistent practice - typically 10 to 30 minutes a day - can reduce the incidence of apnoea by nearly 50% in some adults. Beyond structural strengthening, these exercises promote nasal breathing, which is crucial because mouth breathing during sleep significantly increases the likelihood of airway collapse.
Key Exercises for Sleep Apnoea
1. Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing
Many people are “chest breathers” which is shallow, less efficient and stimulates the nervous system. Diaphragmatic breathing strengthens the primary respiratory muscle and encourages the body into a relaxed state tapping into the parasympathetic nervous system, the part that calms everything down.
How to do it: Lie on your back with one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Inhale slowly through your nose, ensuring only the hand on your belly rises. Exhale slowly through your mouth.
2. The Tongue Slide
The tongue is a major culprit in airway obstruction. Strengthening it prevents it from falling back into the throat during sleep.
How to do it: Place the tip of your tongue against the back of your top front teeth. Slowly slide the tongue backward along the roof of your mouth. Repeat this 20 times.
3. Vowel Pronunciation
Exaggerating vowel sounds engages the muscles of the soft palate and the sides of the throat.
How to do it: Say the vowels (A-E-I-O-U) loudly and in an exaggerated manner, holding each sound for five seconds. Repeat the full circuit 10 times.
4. Alternate Nostril Breathing
This technique, common in yoga (Pranayama), helps clear the nasal passages and balances the nervous system.
How to do it: Close your right nostril with your thumb and inhale through the left. Close the left nostril with your ring finger and exhale through the right. Inhale through the right, then exhale through the left.
Breathing exercises are not a ‘quick fix’ and should not replace medical advice or prescribed CPAP therapy without a doctor’s consultation. However, they offer a non-invasive, cost-free way to improve sleep quality and cardiovascular health. Most studies show that benefits appear after about three months of consistent daily practice.
Breathing exercises, weight loss and improving lifestyle habits all have the potential to improve sleep apnoea, sleep quality and therefore quality of life. Get in touch and see how Breathe and Move techniques could help you breathe better.
Note: If you suspect you have sleep apnoea, it is important to consult a healthcare professional for a formal diagnosis, as untreated apnoea can lead to hypertension and heart disease.
It takes work so get in touch to see how Breathe and Move techniques can help you breathe easier.
Written by Jennie Harmsworth. Having qualified with a degree in Physiotherapy, Jennie spent more than 10-years working in intensive care and post-surgical rehabilitation at both University College London Hospital (UCLH) and Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital.
As a vastly experienced respiratory physiotherapist, Jennie has specialist expertise in dysfunctional breathing, breathlessness management, airway clearance and chronic cough as well as a range of other respiratory conditions such as Asthma, COPD and bronchiectasis.