How well did you Sleep Last Night? Sleep Apnea: “A Noisy Airway Is an Obstructed Airway”

How well did you sleep last night? Did you partner keep you awake because they snore? Do you notice they stop breathing during sleep? Do you have to “nudge” them to get them to breathe? There are very significant problems that develop over time for both parties……for instance, heart disease in the patient with untreated sleep apnea and anger in the partner who cannot get uninterrupted sleep. If this applies to you…read on.

Sleep Apnea: “A Noisy Airway Is an Obstructed Airway”

My father taught me that phrase. I read an online report about treating sleep apnea syndrome using a didjeridoo. The didjeridoo is a traditional Australian Aborigine musical wind instrument. The conclusion of the study, published in the British Journal of Medicine, concluded that sleep apnea symptoms decrease with progressive use of the didjeridoo (Puhan, 2006). There is less obstructed breathing (i.e., snoring) when sleeping at night.

It is possible that this decrease is a result of the breathing exercise required by playing the instrument, which strengthens the throat muscles. I found it curious that traditionally, the didjeridoo’s beeswax mouthpiece is cleaned with two essential oils, lavender and eucalyptus (species not mentioned). It is difficult to design a study in which essential oils are involved. What caused the benefit is not perfectly clear in this study, because the authors do not mention whether essential oils were used by the test or control group to clean the didjeridoo as traditionally recommended. The results suggest a proof of principle in this work.

Plausible mechanisms to explain the reversal of the sleep apnea problem suggest that, if traditional essential oils were used to clean the instrument, the oils may have acted as astringents to decongest the airways, possibly working in conjunction with the “workout” to strengthen the throat muscles. This example of a medical study making the news sounds fun and appears promising. Playing the didjeridoo might even relieve a person of having to wear a sleep apnea CPAP or BIPAP mask at night, or eliminate the need for corrective surgery. You can buy a didjeridoo online if you want one, without going to Australia.

More to come in the days ahead.

Stay tuned for more details.

The oilMD