Myofunctional therapy involves retraining the muscles in and around the mouth, lips and face.  The objective is to produce a normal resting posture of the jaw, tongue, and lips, which can help with eating, speaking, and breathing. Too often I hear from clients that they or their children have had their adenoids removed and after a short time the poor sleep, difficulty in breathing and swallowing returns. Sadly most ENT specialists, Dentists, Orthodontists and GPs have very little knowledge of the biomechanics and biochemistry aspects of breathing.

Research suggests that it can also be particularly helpful for people with sleep disorders such as snoring and sleep apnoea.  You should always consult a medical professional if you feel that you have a sleep disorder; however, there is much you can do to help yourself, and Myofunctional therapy is one of the tools you might like to consider.

Myofunctional therapy is much cheaper than some of the solutions on the market – it does not require any specialist equipment and you do the exercises at home, in your own time, once shown how to do them.  Most people benefit from regular consultations to check on progress and to maintain motivation and to make sure they are doing the exercises properly.  But largely, this is a treatment which requires little external intervention – you, the client, do most of the work.

Myofunctional therapy is useful for people who tend to breathe through their mouth rather than their nose.  You may have, or have had, chewing, or sucking habits, blocked nasal passages, crooked teeth, adenoid problems, issues with snoring or sleep apnoea.  All of these can contribute to misplacement of the tongue in the mouth and can be addressed with Myofunctional therapy.

If you would like to know more ask Nigel and he can recommend a myofunctional specialist to support your breathwork.