For those of you who snore like a chainsaw but don't want to undergo surgery, tongue exercises may be the ticket! If you can breathe through your nose when you sleep, consider this: Train your tongue tip to rest on the roof of your mouth when you sleep. This creates more space in the back of your mouth, preventing the tissues from creating friction and producing snoring noises.
Training the tongue to stay in a certain position takes practice. There are a number of exercises designed to strengthen the tongue so that it can naturally stay in the target spot.
An important first step is to create awareness of a good tongue position. When you are sitting quietly in an upright position, keep your mouth closed, with your jaw relaxed and low, and with your tongue flat and relaxed along the roof of your mouth. Is your tongue tip flat, relaxed, and right behind your front teeth? The next time you lie down to go to sleep, practice that same relaxed closed mouth/tongue position for a full minute before closing your eyes.
For more information about tongue exercises and other behavioral changes for snoring, call us at 212-683-0174.
Sleep well,
The BlueSleep staff
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