Look better, feel better, function better, be healthier, and improve your sleep with these simple exercises to treat obstructive sleep apnea. Daytime sleepiness and snoring will also diminish. And remember, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

By Mark D. Harris

Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when a person develops partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway during sleep, when this obstruction results in apnea (no breathing for at least ten seconds) or hypopnea (decreased breathing). The person with OSA will then partially or fully wake up and their blood oxygen will decrease. About 25% of Americans have OSA, with men, older adults, and the obese at greater risk. OSA increases a person’s risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, coronary heart disease, stroke, trauma from falling asleep (while driving, for example), and death. It is a big health problem in the United States, and increasingly, the world. OSA is usually treated with medications, positive airway pressure (like CPAP), and surgery.[1] OSA is worse with supine sleeping (sleeping on your back). Some patients control their symptoms with side sleeping (sometimes with a full-length body pillow). However, there are many exercises that can help decrease symptoms of OSA, improve function, and make you look and feel better.[2]

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