Of course, first you’ll want to rule out obstructive sleep apnea. OSA occurs when the muscles of the throat relax too much and block the airways, causing a person to stop breathing during sleep, sometimes up to hundreds of times a night, leading to daytime sleepiness and an increased risk for numerous health concerns, including heart problems. But if you don’t have sleep apnea and you’ve tried the fancy pillows, a handful of exercises might offer some relief, according to recent research. MORE: 6 Surprising Causes Of Inflammation—And What You Can Do About It The study, published in the American College of Chest Physicians’ journal CHEST, comes from a team of Brazilian researchers who recorded the total number of snores and the intensity of the sound of the snores of 22 men and 17 women. (No one with severe OSA could participate, but some had mild or moderate apnea.) Then, the researchers divided all the snorers into two groups. One was instructed to use nasal strips, practice deep breathing exercises, and do nasal irrigation 3 times a day (think: neti pots or nasal sprays). The other group still had to wash out their nasal passages 3 times a day (to flush out any mucus that could be blocking the airways and therefore contributing to snoring), but they also had to do about 8 minutes of tongue and palate exercises, derived from techniques known to improve speech and swallowing, 3 times a day.Heal Your Whole Body “Snoring is caused by vibration of soft tissue and muscles that constitute the upper airways. Therefore, it makes sense to work out those muscles,” says study author Geraldo Lorenzi-Filho, MD, an associate professor of medicine at the University of São Paulo. Those soft tissues and muscles are essentially “floppy” when you’re snoring, says Nina Shapiro, MD, a professor of head and neck surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, who is unaffiliated with the research. “In theory, tightening these muscles may reduce the degree of ‘floppiness’ and, consequently, snoring,” she says. (Find out how a 12-day liver cleanse could help you sleep better—and drop pounds—when you read .) The study participants checked in with researchers once a week to make sure they were doing their exercises correctly, and then everyone’s snores were measured again at the end of three months. Only the exercisers (and their bed partners!) benefitted from a reduction in snoring: the frequency of their snores dropped by 36% and the intensity of the sound by 59%. Here are the exercises they did from the American College of Chest Physicians and Vanessa Leto: 1. Push the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and slide it backward 20 times 2. Suck your tongue upward against the roof of your mouth 20 times 3. Push the back of your tongue down while keeping the tip touching the inside of your front teeth 20 times4. 5. 6. Lift your soft palate and uvula 20 times Using your index finger, press your cheek muscle away from your teeth 10 times on each side When you’re eating, bite down, then lift your tongue to the roof of your mouth as you swallow, without tightening your cheek muscles. Just like with any exercises, if you don’t keep up with them, you don’t get the benefits, Lorenzi-Filho says. “If you go to the gym for 6 months and stop, you will not be fit forever. This also applies to the muscles of the upper airways.” So, snorers, you’re in this for the long haul. MORE: The Unbelievable Reason You’re Short On Vitamin D Three-times-a-day nasal irrigation, which is also recommended, is a lot. But it can reduce nasty sicknesses like sinus infections, which are known to contribute to snoring, Shapiro says. Try incorporating the exercises into your regular routine, the study authors write, by doing a set after you brush your teeth or during your evening commute.
