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Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

61–70 of 184 posts

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#61
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't get "oxygen high" from breathing normal air. The O2 levels will always stay the same unless you stop breathing for a while. What will make you feel weird in the head when breathing too fast is the reduction of CO2 in your blood.

So, if you breathe in an intensive manner for a few minutes, oxygen percentage in the blood won't change?

If you've ever done the wim hof breathing method, it is a very intense experience.

Basically hyperventilation + long breath holds. Probably similar to what free divers do without the mammalian dive reflex due to the cold water. Or like a dangerous game kids used to do when I was in school where you hyperventilate and then have someone press on your chest until you pass out.

But anyway, I'm not sure if the science would back it up, but Wim Hof describes it as over oxygenating the blood and then stopping and letting CO2 ramp up or something. Whether it is significantly dropping the CO2 or increasing oxygen during the hyperventilation phase, isn't it kind of the same thing? Adjusting the ratio.

Anecdotally, when I was doing it regularly I seemed to not get sick at all.

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#62
post #25

A friend of mine started "blowing air into water with an straw" (making bubbles) very seriously. I was very skeptical to say the least; but after a couple of months the effects have been very eye opening. Not only it has helped sleep apnea and snoring but also helped with reducing their weight. They had an online group and most participants reported the same. The wight loss was reverted when they stopped for some per…

Reminds me of that guy who started drinking water upside down to train his swallow muscles and cure his chronic heartburn.

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#64

Unrelated to the health aspects, but if you like electronic music and the Didgeridoo check out Aphex Twin's album "Digeridoo". It's so good.

And also the mandatory "Treaty, Yeah!":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPmDLR_M50M

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#65
post #25

A friend of mine started "blowing air into water with an straw" (making bubbles) very seriously. I was very skeptical to say the least; but after a couple of months the effects have been very eye opening. Not only it has helped sleep apnea and snoring but also helped with reducing their weight. They had an online group and most participants reported the same. The wight loss was reverted when they stopped for some per…

I saw a documentary where a vocal coach used a similar technique to help metal singers sing in a way that didn't destroy their throat and vocal chords

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#67
post #25

A friend of mine started "blowing air into water with an straw" (making bubbles) very seriously. I was very skeptical to say the least; but after a couple of months the effects have been very eye opening. Not only it has helped sleep apnea and snoring but also helped with reducing their weight. They had an online group and most participants reported the same. The wight loss was reverted when they stopped for some per…

Seems related to our aquatic mammal past.

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#68
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just learned from comments here it's called "circular breathing"!

Just read how this works and tried it. A bit tricky at first but actually quite easy once you get the hang of it. And it's kind of a fun exercise. Now I'm wondering if I should get a Didgeridoo too.

Yes. Someone who masters circular breathing in a weekend should start playing a wind instrument.

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#69
I once took a didgeridoo course and played for quite a while after that. One weekend of 2×3 hours of didgeridoo playing, and my nose was incredibly clear. Like never before and never again since.

By the way, you can practice circular breathing very well in the shower. Take water in your mouth and breathe in through your nose while simultaneously spraying the water out through your lips.

Re: Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea (2006)

#70
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can't get "oxygen high" from breathing normal air. The O2 levels will always stay the same unless you stop breathing for a while. What will make you feel weird in the head when breathing too fast is the reduction of CO2 in your blood.

So, if you breathe in an intensive manner for a few minutes, oxygen percentage in the blood won't change?

Nope. The blood is already fully saturated with oxygen (in a healthy-ish person) at rest. Even intensely breathing pure o2 can't give you a saturation higher than 100%.
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