INTRODUCTION:

The vibration in the soft palate and the pharyngeal walls of the upper airway generates a sound called as a snore.It occurs during inspiration and rarely during expiration^[1].As we know, human trachea is flexible and is composed of cartilaginous rings connected by membraneous tissue, when the head sags, the neck is bent, and the trachea becomes flexed.It is at this point of flexion that the obstruction to the passage of the respiratory air, the origin of snoring is provided. Bending of trachea is further facilitated when the head is elevated posteriorly with a pillow^[2]. People who are obese, smokers, alcoholics he ones with frequent nasal congestion are more prone to snoring ^[3]. Researchers have found that people who snore have more daytime fatigue and will have difficulty in concentration ^[4,5].

Habitual snorers can be at a risk of serious health problems including Obstructive Sleep Apnea(OSA)^[6].

Snoring and OSA are often interlinked.OSA is characterised by long interruptions of breathing during sleep caused by partial or total obstruction or blockage of the airway ^[7,8].

There are so many bizarre anti-snoring techniques known to us today, with more being added up all the time, but finding the right solution for your snoring can seem like a daunting task. There are so many remedies and information sites but not all of the advice works.Once the source of snoring is identified we can easily rectify it by our conservative methods ^[9]. Oropharyngeal exercises in general can reduce snoring^[10-12]. We may not know, that simply singing can increase muscle control in the throat and soft palate, reducing snoring caused by lax muscles^[13-15]. Generally snoring is caused due to the weakened muscles. By performing these exercises the weakened muscles are toned and strengthened^[10-15].

Hence this study aims to determine whether there would be any noticeable impact via the oropharyngeal exercises in habitual snorers.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Snore lab app was used to determine and analyse the change in the snoring pattern. It takes into account the snoring intensity and snoring extent, after which it generates a snore score.

Inclusion Criteria: People between the age group of 20 to 40.Those who are habitual snorers.

Exclusion Criteria: People with asthma, sinus infection, deformities with nose such as deviated septum, nasal polyps and with other lung diseases were excluded.

30 Habitual snorers were instructed to carry out oropharyngeal exercises for a course of 3 weeks duration.The exercise routine was done daily prior to bed time.The following set of exercises was performed:

Soft Palate Blowing:

They inhaled air through nose and exhaled it via mouth. As they exhaled, they pressed their lips together and this action forms a resistance. In which during exhalation, the abdomen is tightened. They maintained the blowing for 5 seconds and repeated it 10 times. This exercise was performed 4 times a day.

A balloon can also be used for this exercise. Exhaling via the mouth and inhaling via the nose will assist with training the respiratory system.

Tongue Slide:

They looked straight ahead and positioned the tip of their tongue against the back of their top, front teeth. Then they have slid their tongue backward. This exercise was repeated 10 times.

Tiger Yell Exercise:

They opened their mouth as wide as possible, and stuck their tongue out in a downward position. The tongue needs to be stuck out as far as it can be. The uvula, the small fleshy piece in the back of their throat, was lifted upwards so that it facilitated the tongue to be stuck out properly. The mirror was used to ensure that they were lifting the uvula correctly. They were soon able to sense that they have lifted it and they didn’t require the mirror after tat.They have held the lifted uvula for 5 seconds and repeated it for 10 times.

Pronouncing has vowels:

properly can even help, when combined with the tongue being in a downward position; this exercise helps both the soft palate and the tongue exercises.

Lifting the back of the roof of the mouth and soft palate while saying ‘ah’.

RESULTS:

Table 1 : Snore Score

Table 1 shows that they are statistically significant.

PARAMETER	BEFORE SNORING	AFTER SNORING	p-VALUE
SNORE SCORE	119.43±41.23	67.57±33.92	<0.005

Figure 1: Snore Score

DISCUSSION:

The mean value of snore score recorded for 30 habitual snorers before exercise and after exercise is 119.43 and 67.57 respectively. The results of the study reveal that there is a significant decrease in the snore score after exercises (67.57±33.92) compared with the snore score before exercise (119.43±41.23) with a significant value p > 0.005.

The graph clearly shows the reduction in the snore score after performing the oropharyngeal exercises. The tongue exercises assist in building the tongue’s tone and strength^[10]. The soft palate exercises will lift the soft palate up and will offer tone and strength to the soft palate^[10-11]. The throat exercises helps to build, tone and strengthen the throat muscles and also open the throat up more to prevent it closing upon sleep^{[12, 13, 14]}. In general purpose of all the exercises is to strengthen, exercise and train certain muscles, making the airway easier to access during the night while sleeping. As a result of the cleared airway passage, the snoring intensity and extent was reduced in the habitual snorers^[16-18]. If the exercises are carried by the patients for a longer duration, the habitual snorers can completely get rid of snoring^[19-20].

The major signs of improvement in the habitual snorers after the oropharyngeal exercises were less daytime exhaustion, less intense snoring and high quality of sleep was achieved. Since the study was conducted only for duration of three weeks, there was only a gradual reduce in the snore score.

CONCLUSION:

The study shows a very promising, non invasive treatment for the habitual snorers. Perhaps the habitual snorers can finally wave goodbye to daytime exhaustion and the embarrassment of falling to sleep at work.

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Received on 09.03.2018 Modified on 11.05.2018

Research J. Pharm. and Tech 2018; 11(8): 3614-3616.

DOI: 10.5958/0974-360X.2018.00665.0