How to Relieve Snoring Through Exercises

Snoring is caused when air passages are blocked during sleep. Often the cause of the blockage is the tongue or other soft tissues, such as a flabby soft palate, relaxing down into the airway during sleep. While many aids to stop snoring are available for sale, a snorer can sometimes alleviate the problem with simple exercises designed to tone up the muscles surrounding the soft tissue areas that cause the problem.

Instructions

• 1

  Sing yourself to sleep to help stop snoring. Singing exercises all the muscles around your mouth, throat, and nasal passages more thoroughly than does talking. Gargle with warm water first to loosen your throat muscles, then sing vigorously for 10 to 15 minutes before going to bed. Over time, your muscles in your throat and soft palate will firm up so as to prevent blockage of your airway passages.

• 2

  Stretch your tongue before sleeping. Stick your tongue out as far as you can 10 times. Repeat 10 times trying to touch your chin with your tongue, then 10 more times trying to touch your nose with your tongue. This will help firm the muscle tone of your tongue, if it's the problem causing the snoring.

• 3

  Do facial exercises centering on the mouth area to help firm the muscles. Move your jaw side to side, holding it for 30 seconds on each side. Purse your lips for an extended period, then smile exaggeratedly for the same amount of time. Looking in a mirror so you can see your uvula moving, tighten the muscles at the back of your throat repeatedly by tensing them as if about to spit.

• 4

  Push a spoon down on your tongue, and use your tongue to fight back against the spoon, trying to push it up. Strengthening your tongue muscle this way can help provide the muscle tone needed to keep your tongue out of your breathing passages at night.

• 5

  Pretend to chew gum vigorously, humming or singing while you do so. This exercise will tone many of the muscles needed to keep flabby tissue from getting in the way and causing snoring at night. Try humming or singing while pretending to sip through a straw to accomplish the same thing.