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In 2006,Swiss researchers reported that playing the didgeridoo can reduce snoring. The didgeridoo is a musical instrument that produces a droning sound. It is a traditional instrument of Australian Aborigines.
The intriguing study was prompted after a didgeridoo teacher reported that some of his students experienced less snoring and daytime tiredness after a few months of practice.
Dr Milo Pulan, a researcher at the University of Zurich, set up a study where half the participants learn to play the didgeridoo for 25 minutes each day, while the other half did not.
Commonly called a "didge", didge players first learned how to place their lips over the instrument and hold a note for 20 to 30 seconds. They also learned a technique known as circular breathing that allows the didge player to hold an unbroken sound for long periods, by inhaling air through the nose while continuing airflow through the instrument. The cheeks are used as bellows.
Over the four-month trial, the research participants who played, experienced a significant improvement in their daytime tiredness and snoring.
The researchers believe that the breathing techniques learned to play the didge, tone the upper airways.
This finding may be consistent with another preliminary study that found a decrease in snoring in people who sang specific singing exercises for 20 minutes a day over three months. Singing can help to improve muscle control of the soft palate and upper throat.
It may be easier to find a singing teacher than a didgeridoo teacher, and of course, you already have the instrument, so this may be a worthwhile strategy for stubborn snorers.
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