It’s the strongest and most flexible muscle in our body, and responsible for how we eat, swallow and speak (and helps us taste our favourite foods), but; the tongue is also an important part of our overall health. You might be surprised to learn our tongue can impact on our sleep and is one of the most common causes of snoring and sleep apnoea.
In this article we look at how you can assess your tongue posture and strengthen your tongue through easy exercises.
What is sleep apnoea?
Sleep apnoea is a condition which causes pauses in your breathing while you sleep. It can often lead to heavy snoring, mouth breathing, and ongoing fatigue [1].
The National Sleep Foundation reported that sleep apnoea likely affects as much as 20% of the population, and it’s been found that around 85% of individuals with sleep apnoea don’t know they have it [2].
Some symptoms of sleep apnoea include:
- Snoring
- Mouth breathing
- Waking up gasping or choking
- Pauses in breathing while sleeping [1]
Most people know someone who snores and these people often wake tired. The Myospots team has uncovered, through firsthand experience, how tongue posture can have a big impact on sleep apnoea, and how simple exercises can help strengthen your tongue, improve the posture, and can reduce frequency of sleep problems.
What is tongue posture?
Where your tongue sits in your mouth is very important; just like the posture of our spine, the posture of our tongue can have follow on impacts. Simply put, your tongue posture is how correctly your tongue rests in your mouth when it’s not in use. Ideally, you want your tongue to be resting on the top of your mouth and not obstructing your top teeth.
If your tongue rests down low, this is poor tongue posture that can cause issues such as misaligned tooth placement but, more commonly, sleep apnoea.
Tongue exercises
If your tongue posture is poor and you think it is impacting your sleep, there are things you can do to improve it – namely, tongue exercises.
And no, we don’t mean taking your tongue to the weights or spinning class! However, like our everyday exercises we do at the gym, tongue posture exercises can have great flow on health benefits.
The benefits of tongue exercise include strengthening your tongue muscle and helping it return to a beneficial position.
Types of tongue exercises
While flexing your tongue muscles probably didn’t make your New Year’s Resolutions, it’s an important muscle to consistently exercise and strengthen. There are lots of tongue exercises for snoring and posture, including:
Tongue push ups
- Push your tongue upward against the roof of your mouth and press your whole tongue against it.
- Hold this for 10 seconds.
- Repeat five times
Tongue stretch
- Open your mouth and stick your tongue straight out as far as you can
- Hold this position for 10 seconds
- Repeat five times
- Increase duration to 15 seconds over time
Tongue aerobics
- Stick your tongue out and reach it up towards your nose.
- Hold for 10 seconds.
- Point your tongue down toward your chin.
- Hold for 10 seconds
- Push your tongue to the right
- Hold for 10 seconds
- Push your tongue to the left
- Hold for 10 seconds
- Repeat five times
Complementary treatments for tongue exercises
You should complete the tongue elevation exercises every day until you start to see a difference in your tongue’s position. Should you wish to optimise your tongue posture, you can add in additional supports such as Myospots Tongue Exercise Spots.
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Myospots was created after seeing the impact tongue posture can have on a person’s overall health. The easy-to-use spots are a complementary treatment to use alongside the above tongue exercises for people wanting to improve their tongue posture. The dissolvable spots act as a sticking point between your tongue and the top of your mouth.
We could see people needed an additional option to optimise the effectiveness of tongue exercises, and that’s exactly what Myospots can help with.
Train your tongue and unlock better sleep today with Myospots, available in a range of great flavours.
DISCLAIMER FOR HEALTHCARE EDUCATION
All information is general and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Myospots can consult with you to confirm if this product is right for you.
References:
Sources, links and date of access. Scientific references only required for large medical devices or if specifically requested.
[1] healthdirect, Obstructive sleep apnoea, Obstructive sleep apnoea - symptoms and treatment | healthdirect, accessed 26 June 2024.
[2] Sleep Foundation, Sleep Apnea: Symptoms & Causes, accessed 26 June 2024.
