I have tried everything, yes everything, and this finally worked for me

Sleep Health
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I wanted to share something simple that made a surprisingly big difference for me: tongue exercises.

I had been sleeping poorly for about a month and kept looking for other reasons why: light exposure, bedtime routine, stress, supplements, pillows, you name it. Then it finally dawned on me that I had stopped doing my tongue and throat exercises I discovered on YouTube six months ago.

So yesterday, I started doing them again throughout the day. Nothing complicated. I pushed my tongue against the front of my teeth and moved it in circles, clockwise and counterclockwise, about 20 times each way. I repeated that several times during the day. It was a workout!

Last night, for the first time in about a month, I stayed in bed from 10:00 pm until my 6:00 am alarm. Even more exciting, my overnight Pulse Ox graph looked noticeably better, with most of the night above 90 to 95%.

Obviously, this is just my personal experience, and one night does not prove anything. But it was enough of a change that I am taking it seriously.

The funny thing is how easy these exercises are. You can do them sitting in a chair, watching TV, reading, or walking around the house. No equipment. No cost. No appointment. Just a few minutes here and there during the day.

It really made me think: if you don’t use it, you lose it. Maybe the muscles in the tongue and throat are no different from any other muscles. When I stopped exercising them, my sleep got worse. When I started again, something changed almost immediately.

I know tongue exercises may not solve everyone’s sleep issues, and they are not a substitute for medical care when someone has sleep apnea or oxygen drops. But for something this simple, what do we really have to lose by trying?

Has anyone else noticed better sleep, better snoring, or better oxygen numbers after doing tongue or myofunctional therapy exercises?

My history: CPAP (multiple masks and machines), supplemental oxygen, sinus surgery (twice), Uvula removal, chin/mouth guard, chin straps, sinus extenders, pillows, bed angles, yada, yada, yada. I have done it all over the last twenty years.

Tongue exercises? Not once in all of those years did a single doctor ever mention trying tongue exercises. So simple too…

3 Likes
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How interesting and it sure is worth a try. thanx for sharing. Never would have guessed that.

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I described my tongue movement incorrectly in my first post.

I swirl my tongue 20 times clockwise and 20 times counter-clockwise behind my lips. My tongue extends past my teeth and pushes against the inside of my lips. Moving my tongue while pushing against the lips really works those muscles!

I do this three times a day. By the end of the day my tongue has had a full workout.

I have also started singing along with my favorite songs, since that uses my throat muscles too, especially when I can add a little vibrato.

I’m glad I gave you something to think about Ravenesque!

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Now that makes more sense. I couldn’t swirl that tongue much against my teeth. That is just the craziest sounding mouth exercise, that it just has to work. Ok I 'm going to start this today and hope I get something more than a sore swirled tongue out of it. Thanx.