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A small body of research suggests that oropharyngeal exercises can reduce the severity of moderate obstructive sleep apnea (OSA; NEJM JW Gen Med Jun 15 2009 and Am J Resp Crit Care Med 2009; 179:962). Now, researchers in Brazil have examined the effect of such exercises on snoring.
The study included 39 patients whose main complaint was snoring; some patients also had mild-to-moderate OSA. Patients were randomized either to perform a set of oropharyngeal exercises (about 8 minutes, 3 times daily) or to a control intervention (nonspecific breathing exercises) for 3 months. Patients underwent overnight snore recordings at baseline and after the intervention. Both mean number of snores per hour and a composite measure of loudness of snoring dec…