Sleep apnea is a condition that affects your ability to breathe while you are sleeping. Your breathing often becomes shallow and thin, or is interrupted completely for a few seconds. Sleep apnea can turn into a serious problem if not addressed early on. If you suspect you have sleep apnea, contact your doctor right away.
Symptoms and Causes
Sleep apnea can be difficult to diagnose on your own, but you can enlist the help of your sleeping partner and look for certain symptoms. Loud snoring, gasping for air and choking while you sleep, long pauses in breathing, dry mouth in the morning and being out of breath when you wake are all symptoms. Risk factors for sleep apnea include being overweight, over 65, male, and black or Hispanic. Lesser-known factors include a deviated septum or a thick neck.
Tongue Exercises
Two of the mouth exercises for sleep apnea involve the use of your tongue. Strengthening the muscles in your upper airway might help prevent many of your sleep apnea symptoms. For the first one, press your tongue on the bottom of your mouth so that it is flat, then brush the sides and top of your mouth with your toothbrush. Brush over the surfaces five times, three time per day. For the second, press your tongue so that it is flat against the roof of your mouth and hold it there for three minutes at some point each day.
Mouth Exercises
You also can perform some mouth exercises that do not involve your tongue to strengthen the muscles in and around your mouth. Hook a finger into the side of your mouth and hold it against your cheek while pushing your cheek inward. Do 10 repetitions, three times on each side. Next, pucker your lips as if you were giving a kiss and hold the kiss as you move your lips up, right and left. Do 10 repetitions three times. Finally, place your lips on a balloon and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, slowly inflating the balloon. Do it three times without taking the balloon out of your mouth.
Considerations
You might be referred to a sleep clinic to be monitored overnight if your doctor suspects sleep apnea. If you are a loud snorer, it does not mean you automatically have sleep apnea. Consider videotaping yourself as you sleep if you want to see what really happens.
