The SnoreFree® method

Dario Lindes has already carried out a pilot study at the Vienna General Hospital in 2007, in cooperation with the ENT department and the pulmonological sleep laboratory, in which his treatment method of logopaedic anti-snoring training was positively evaluated.

Conclusion: The orofacial myofunctional therapy from speech therapy effectively helps to reduce objectively measured snoring production and intensity after only three months. It can help a large part of the population to sleep better and more relaxed.

Upper airway muscle function plays a major role in maintenance of the upper airway patency and contributes to the genesis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS). Preliminary results suggested that oropharyngeal exercises derived from speech therapy may be an effective treatment option for patients with moderate OSAS.

Oropharyngeal exercises significantly reduce OSAS severity and symptoms and represent a promising treatment for moderate OSAS.

Background: Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) exhibit reduced quality of life (QoL) due to their daytime symptoms that restricted their social activities. The available data for QoL after treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) are inconclusive, and few studies have assessed QoL after treatment with speech therapy or other methods that increase the tonus of the upper airway muscles or with a combination of these therapies. The aim of our study was to assess the effect of speech therapy alone or combined with CPAP on QoL in patients with OSA using three different questionnaires.

Our results suggest that speech therapy alone as well as in association with CPAP might be an alternative treatment for the improvement of QoL in patients with OSA.

Background: Snoring is extremely common in the general population and may indicate OSA. However, snoring is not objectively measured during polysomnography, and no standard treatment is available for primary snoring or when snoring is associated with mild forms of OSA. This study determined the effects of oropharyngeal exercises on snoring in minimally symptomatic patients with a primary complaint of snoring and diagnosis of primary snoring or mild to moderate OSA.

Oropharyngeal exercises are effective in reducing objectively measured snoring and are a possible treatment of a large population suffering from snoring.

Purpose: Orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) is a modality of treatment for children and adults with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to promote changes in the musculature of the upper airways. This review summarizes and discusses the effects of OMT on OSA, the therapeutic programs employed, and their possible mechanisms of action.

Conclusion: The present review showed that OMT is effective for the treatment of adults in reducing the severity of OSA and snoring, and improving the quality of life. OMT is also successful for the treatment of children with residual apnea. In addition, OMT favors the adherence to continuous positive airway pressure. However, randomized and high-quality studies are still rare, and the effects of treatment should also be analyzed on a long-term basis, including measures showing if changes occurred in the musculature.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has many effects on subjective parameters of the disease, such as reduction in quality of life (QoL), sleep quality (SQ), and increases in daytime sleepiness. Studies have reported the beneficial effect of exercise training on OSA severity; however, whether it improves subjective parameters remains unclear. The purpose of the present review was to investigate the effect of exercise training on QoL, daytime sleepiness, and SQ in adults with OSA by summarizing the results of clinical trials.

Exercise training significantly improved QoL (mean difference, 12.9 [95% confidence interval (CI) 6.4 to 19.5]) and SQ (mean difference, -2.0 [95% CI -3.6 to -0.5]), and reduced daytime sleepiness (mean difference, -3.7 [95% CI -6.1 to -1.2]), and OSA severity (mean difference, -11.4 [95% CI -13.4 to -9.4 events/h]). Thus, physical exercise training was effective in improving subjective parameters and reducing the severity of OSA. Additional randomized clinical trials, however, should be performed to confirm these findings.

Objective: We conducted an interventional study using MFT to evaluate the effect of MFT on middle-to-senior-aged patients with moderate or severe OSA and compared changes in apnoea-hypopnea index (AHI) and tongue pressure.

Conclusions: MFT can be a useful intervention even among middle-aged to elderly patients with OSA. Increased tongue pressure may have contributed to the AHI improvement.

Introduction: Oropharyngeal exercises are new, non-invasive, cost effective treatment modality for the treatment of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea. It acts by increasing the tone of pharyngeal muscles, is more physiological, and effects are long lasting. Aim of the study: The aim of our present study was to evaluate the effect of oropharyngeal exercises in the treatment of mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea.

Conclusion: Graded oropharyngeal exercise therapy increases the compliance and also reduces the severity of mild to moderate OSAS.

Background: Obstructive Sleep apnea is increasing health problem seen in developed as well as developing countries. CPAP is a gold standard treatment protocol used in all over the countries. Because of its cost effectiveness and device related discomfort it is necessary to find alternative treatment regimen. Oropharyngeal exercises are the treatment which involves the correct use of the physiological structures and functions by means of functional exercises and muscular exercises with the aim of increasing the tonus and mobility of oral structures in upper airway obstruction.

There was significant decrease in severity of apnea on STOP-BANG sleep apnea questionnaire, after Oropharyngeal exercises (p<0.0001). Also there were significant increase in oxygen saturation and PEFR values after Oropharyngeal exercises (p<0.0001 and p<0.0044). Conclusion: It is concluded that Oropharyngeal exercise can achieve improvement in Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

The field of “oropharyngeal” exercises is a new treatment but it‟s a field that causes good prognosis for snoring, daytime sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) sufferers. Quasi experimental study using non equivalent control group pretest-posttest design was used. Pretest was taken of comparison group by anthropometric parameter, Epworth sleepiness scale, Snoring scale and STOP BANG sleep apnea questionnaire and no intervention was given.

Oropharyngeal exercises are effective in reducing the daytime sleepiness, snoring and risk of obstructive sleep apnea among adults having snoring. The nurses along with the pharmacological therapy they can teach oropharyngeal exercises as an adjuvant therapy in improving sleep quality of patient. Also as a nurse educator teach students about assessment of sleep related problems like snoring, obstructive sleep apnea among patients admitted in hospital. The protocol should be made in the ward to identify the patients having snoring and to teach the oropharyngeal exercises to them. Researches can be conducted regarding different modalities on pharmacological therapy and non-pharmacological treatment also to reduce daytime sleepiness, snoring and risk of obstructive sleep apnea.

Primary snoring (PS) is one of the sleep breathing disorders with suboptimal results of treatment. It is recommended that Oropharyngeal exercises can be a therapeutic choice for the patients with mild to moderate degrees of PS. We assessed the effects of oropharyngeal-lingual (OPL) exercises on patients with primary snoring (PS) referred to Amiralmomenin University Hospital, Rasht, Iran in 2012. Fifty-three patients with PS underwent the sets of OPL exercises for 3 months, 5 days a week, and 30 min a day under the supervision of a speech therapist. Severity of the snoring was assessed by use of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Snoring Scale Score (SSS) criteria before and after the exercises, and data were analyzed using SPSS version 17. Mean SSS before the study was 7.01 ± 1.72, while it was 3.09 ± 2.7 after the study; and the mean VAS scores were 8.54 ± 1.89 and 4.69 ± 2.94 before and after the study, respectively (P = 0.0001).

There was a significant relationship between having conflicts with roommates (P = 0.0001), duration of snoring occurrence (P = 0.0001), severity of snoring (P = 0.0001) before and after the intervention. In conclusion, doing the OPL exercises significantly decreases the severity of PS.

Introduction: Oral Myofunctional therapy could be considered as a new therapy for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), because of its direct action on oral motility. Aim of this work: to evaluate the effect of Oral Myofunctional therapy as a simple method for treatment of patients with mild to moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS). Materials and methods: 30 patients with mild to moderate OSAS were subjected to the following: 1-Thorough history taking with stress on symptoms of OSAS (snoring, fragmented sleep, witnessed apneas, morning headache and daytime sleepiness) and calculation of Epworth sleepiness scale.

Results: There was significant decrease of apnea hypopnea index (AHI), arousal index after myofunctional therapy as compared to before myofunctional therapy (p < 0.001 for all). Also there were significant decrease in desaturation parameters (desaturation index, average duration SaO2 < 90%, % total sleep time SaO2 < 90%) after myofunctional therapy (p < 0.001). Conclusion: myofunctional therapy can achieve subjective improvement in OSAS symptoms, as well as polysomonographic abnormalities in patients with mild to moderate OSAS and so can be considered as an alternative method of treatment.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is an important disease that represent a challenge for both patients and physicians to reach optimum choice for treatment mostly because genesis of OSAS is multifactorial. Upper airway muscle function plays a major role in maintenance of the upper airway patency especially during sleep. Oropharyngeal exercises may be an effective treatment option for OSAS.

Results: After end of study, daytime sleepiness and AHI improved significantly in group I (moderate OSA) 13 out of 15 patients shifted from moderate to mild OSAS. There was significant decrease in oxygen desaturation and snoring index. As for group II, there was decrease but not significant change in same parameters. Only for moderate OSAS, there was, significant decrease in neck circumference, which inversely correlated with changes in AHI (r = 0.582; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Upper airways exercises can be a novel easy non invasive technique to improve AHI, O2 saturation and snoring thus used in treatment of OSAS patients mainly moderate type.

The primary aim of the current study was to assess the effects of oropharingeal muscle exercises in obstruction severity on stroke patients with OSAS. The secondary aims were to evaluate the effects of the exercises on rehabilitation of neurological function, sleeping, and morphology change of upper airway. An open-label, single-blind, parallel-group, randomized, controlled trial was designed.

After 6 weeks of treatment, no significant changes were observed in the control group; however, significant changes were observed in the therapy group.

Recently, the orofacial myofunctional therapy (OMT) has appeared as a possible alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Systematic reviews are required to achieve scientific evidence, seeking to direct the decision on therapeutic issues. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature about the OMT proposals in adults with OSA related to symptoms and physiological parameters.

Six studies showed a decrease in the Apnea and Hypopnea Index (AHI), five studies showed improvement in the minimum SpO2, decrease in the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and in snoring. OMT proposals refer to a three-month program changing the parameters related to partial reduction of AHI, ESS index, snoring, and partial increase of SpO2. There are few randomized studies.

Objective: To systematically review the literature for articles evaluating myofunctional therapy (MT) as treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children and adults and to perform a meta-analysis on the polysomnographic, snoring, and sleepiness data.

Conclusion: Current literature demonstrates that myofunctional therapy decreases apnea-hypopnea index by approximately 50% in adults and 62% in children. Lowest oxygen saturations, snoring, and sleepiness outcomes improve in adults. Myofunctional therapy could serve as an adjunct to other obstructive sleep apnea treatments.

Purpose: Oropharyngeal and tongue exercises (myofunctional therapy) have been shown to improve obstructive sleep apnea. However, to our knowledge, a systematic review has not been performed for snoring. The study objective is to perform a systematic review, with a meta-analysis, dedicated to snoring outcomes after myofunctional therapy.

Conclusions: This systematic review demonstrated that myofunctional therapy has reduced snoring in adults based on both subjective questionnaires and objective sleep studies.

Objective: To assess the effects of didgeridoo playing on daytime sleepiness and other outcomes related to sleep by reducing collapsibility of the upper airways in patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome and snoring.

Conclusion: Regular didgeridoo playing is an effective treatment alternative well accepted by patients with moderate obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

Purpose: Upper airway exercises for snoring treatment can be effective but difficult to administer and monitor. We hypothesized that a brief, relatively simple daily upper airway exercise regimen, administered by a smartphone application, would reduce snoring and encourage compliance.

Conclusions: Smartphone application-administered upper airway training reduces objective and subjective snoring measures and improves sleep quality.