Throat Exercises to Reduce Snoring
Throat exercises for snoring (myofunctional therapy) tone the muscles around your airway so they stay firmer in sleep, which can soften snoring. In studies they roughly halved sleep apnoea severity. They are a free complement, not a cure, and worrying symptoms still need a GP.
Snoring is the sound of relaxed tissue vibrating in a narrowed airway as you breathe. If you strengthen the muscles that hold the airway open, those tissues sag a little less. That is the simple idea behind throat exercises for snoring, and there is real evidence they help some people.
Do throat exercises actually reduce snoring?
The evidence is genuinely encouraging. A 2015 meta-analysis by Camacho and colleagues found that mouth and throat exercises (myofunctional therapy) reduced the apnoea-hypopnoea index, a clinical measure of sleep apnoea severity, from about 24.5 to 12.3 events per hour in adults. That is roughly a halving.
There is an unusual finding too: learning to play the didgeridoo. In a randomised trial, regular didgeridoo practice cut the apnoea-hypopnoea index more than no treatment, because circular breathing trains the same upper-airway muscles. It is not magic. It is muscle tone.
These are population studies, not personal results. Exercises are a sensible complement to other steps, not a replacement for medical care if you have worrying symptoms.
A simple throat exercise routine to try
Most routines take 5 to 10 minutes a day and use no equipment. Aim for daily practice over a few weeks before you judge it.
| Exercise | How to do it |
|---|---|
| Tongue slide | Press the tip of your tongue against the back of your top teeth, then slide it backwards along the roof of your mouth. Repeat 15 times. |
| Tongue stretch | Stick your tongue out as far as you can, reaching towards your chin. Hold for a few seconds, repeat 10 times. |
| Soft palate lift | Say the vowel sounds “a”, “e”, “i”, “o”, “u” out loud and firmly, feeling the back of your throat lift. |
| Cheek hook | Use a clean finger to pull one cheek outward while resisting with the cheek muscle. 10 times each side. |
| Jaw glide | Open wide, move your lower jaw to the right, hold, then to the left. 10 times. |
How do I know if they are working?
Snoring is hard to judge from inside your own sleep, so track it. Recording a few baseline nights, then checking again after a month of exercises, shows whether anything has actually changed. An app like Kip records and scores your snoring on your iPhone, with the audio never leaving the device, so you can compare honestly rather than guessing. It tracks loudness and frequency over time. It is a wellness tool that flags patterns, not a diagnosis.
Exercises pair well with other steps. See how to stop snoring for the full picture, and stop snoring naturally for other no-cost approaches. If your snoring comes with breathing pauses, gasping or heavy daytime tiredness, see your GP, as only a clinical sleep study can diagnose sleep apnoea.
Sources
- Camacho et al. Myofunctional therapy meta-analysis (2015)
- NICE NG202: Obstructive sleep apnoea (2021)
- NHS: Snoring
FAQ
How long do throat exercises take to reduce snoring?
Most studies run the programme for around three months, with daily practice of a few minutes. Give it at least four weeks before deciding. Consistency matters more than how hard you push, so build it into a fixed time each day, such as while brushing your teeth.
Can singing or playing an instrument help snoring?
Possibly. Regular didgeridoo practice reduced sleep apnoea severity in a randomised trial, and the common thread is repeated, controlled use of the throat and palate muscles, which is exactly what targeted exercises train.
Are throat exercises a cure for snoring or sleep apnoea?
No. They are a free, low-risk complement that can reduce snoring for some people, but they are not a cure and they do not replace medical care. If you have loud snoring with breathing pauses, choking or strong daytime sleepiness, discuss it with your GP rather than relying on exercises alone.