Anyone try myofunctional / orofacial excercises to reduce AHI ?

[DS123]

Hi everybody, 

I have a complicated case of UARS and use CPAP but am never full refreshed. Have tried almost everything and aerophagia limits my pressure below full therapy levels. 

Now, has anyone tried myofunctional therapy / orofacial excercises ? If so, which ones have you done ? Anyone have links to good videos or instructions ? 

I'd like to do this as an adjunct therapy to CPAP, and also exercise four times a week from now on. 

This meta review shows promise for myofunctional therapy : https://academic.oup.com/sleep/article/38/5/669/2416863

Thanks for any pointers / advice all! 

D

[Walla Walla]

I tried it and decided that any benefit was minimal. I read that the average person swallows between 900 and 2000 time a day. Plus consider all the talking a person does and that adds up to a lot of exercise for the mouth and throat already. It won't hurt you to try it but I'd keep the expectations low.

[Sleeprider]

Post redacted. I need to take a second look.

[Mogy]

Hi DS123. Yes, I have been using the exercises with good results. The main ones that I do are on You tube. They were put together by the University of South Dakota.

[DS123]

Hi Mogy, thanks! Those are the ones I found a couple years back, good to know you're using them with some success.

I started doing it a while back, but it seemed a bit much after a while, couldn't get myself to do it. Now I'm committed, so I know I'll go through with it for a few months and see if it helps.

Did you follow their schedule ? How often do you do it / how long each day ?

Thanks!

[Mogy]

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I didn't follow their schedule. I can do all but 3 of them while I am driving to work, so I do them all once a day 5 days a week.
I was very good following my schedule for the first 3 months. I was retested and had good results. I haven't done as well with the exercises since, but I plan to be retested in March.

[papadapadoo]

I just saw this. I have been doing myofunctional exercises and lip training for three months. Also I have used a TENS unit under my chin. My wife says I no longer snore and I sleep pretty well without my Bipap. Unfortunately for me, when I use the Bipap I wake every 45 minutes or so, vs 2-3 hours without...so I have worked quite hard to reduce my apneas. When I do use the Bipap I find that my AHI has gone down quite a bit, always under 5 now. So I am a believer.