Are tongue exercises useful for stopping snoring

If a person's snoring is severe, it will not only affect his own health, but also affect the rest of others. Therefore, for people who like to snore, it is necessary to find out the cause in time and treat the cause to alleviate the symptoms of snoring. In addition, you can also stop snoring through some exercises, tongue exercises are one of them. Here are some ways to stop snoring.

1. Exercises to stop snoring

Tongue sticking exercise

Stick out your tongue as far as you can, pull it back in, and then stick it out as far as you can, and repeat this cycle. Do it whenever you have time every day, at least 100 times each time, until your throat feels sore.

Dry gargle exercise

Without water, puff up your cheeks, then retract them, and repeat this cycle. Do it whenever you have time every day, at least 100 times each time, until your throat feels sore.

Gum sweeping exercise

Use your tongue to quickly sweep across the gums on the outside of your teeth (cheek side). First lick the gums on the upper palate, quickly sweep from left to right, then from right to left, and do this more than 50 times at a time. Then lick the gums of the lower jaw in the same way. Do it whenever you have time every day until your throat feels sore.

2. Treatment methods for snoring

In addition to side-lying, quitting smoking and drinking, and weight loss for obese people, the treatment of OSAHS is divided into two categories: non-surgical treatment and surgical treatment.

1. Non-surgical treatment

1. Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)

This method is currently the most effective treatment for moderate to severe OSAHS. Most patients can achieve satisfactory treatment results through CPAP treatment.

2. Oral appliances

Wearing an oral appliance during sleep can raise the soft palate, pull the tongue actively or passively forward, and move the mandible forward, thereby expanding the oropharynx and hypopharynx. It is the main means of treating simple snoring or one of the important auxiliary means of non-surgical treatment of OSAHS, but it is ineffective for patients with moderate to severe OSAHS.

2. Surgical treatment

The purpose of surgical treatment is to reduce and eliminate airway obstruction and prevent collapse of airway soft tissue. The choice of surgical method depends on the location and severity of the airway obstruction, whether there is morbid obesity, and the overall condition. The following are some commonly used surgical methods.

1. Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy

This type of surgery is suitable for adults with enlarged tonsils or children with enlarged adenoids. It is generally effective in the short term after surgery, but it may still recur after puberty and the development of the tongue and soft palate muscles.

2. Nasal surgery

For patients with nasal airway obstruction caused by a deviated nasal septum, nasal polyps or enlarged nasal conchae, septoplasty and removal of nasal polyps or nasal conchae can be performed to relieve symptoms.

3. Glossoplasty

Glossoplasty can be performed for patients with tongue hypertrophy, macroglossia, posterior displacement of the tongue root, and enlarged tonsils at the tongue root.

4. Uvula, palate and pharyngeal plasty

This operation involves removing the posterior edge of the soft palate with an excessively long uvula and the loose lateral pharyngeal mucosa, and pulling the lateral pharyngeal mucosa forward and suturing it, in order to relieve airway obstruction at the soft palate and oropharyngeal level, but it cannot relieve airway obstruction in the hypopharynx, so it is important to master the indications.

5. Orthognathic surgery

Orthognathic surgery is mainly used for OSAHS with oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal airway obstruction caused by jaw deformity.