Archive for 'Didgeridoo'
Didgeridoo - Alternative treatment for Sleep Apnea?
I was reading articles about sleep apnea, and I came a across an LA Outback advertisement on didgeridoos. I thought it was a mis-targeted advertistment - what does a long, hollow, piece of wood have to do with Sleep Apnea? I have heard people playing the aboriginal instrument, and it a different and exciting sound… and I was shocked to actually learn that there are articles about the benefits of playing the digeridoo.
It looks like Men’s Health, Science Daily, BBC News, ABC News Online, and others have a brief article on benefits of this instrument. They appear to be based on a More technical article on the didgeridoo and sleep apnea at the British Medical Journal website.
A summary of the BMJ article: A Study was done on people with moderate sleep apnea. The thought is that playing the didgeridoo trains some of the muscles in the upper airway (which may collapse during sleeping, causing obstructive sleep apnea). After a couple months of learning to play the digeridoo, people had seen less sleep obstructions.
I had first thought that it was a crazy idea think blowing into a wooden stick would help my sleep apnea problem. Then I thought about my current status - I have a CPAP machine blowing air into my throat every night. Or I could have surgery. Or I could pust tennis balls in my back pockets when I sleep at night… Or maybe training my muscles does not seem like such a bad idea. I could buy a didgeridoo - and try to help myself. If it does not help, it would still be a cool instrument to play, and it would be entertaining to watch other to play around with it at as well. And, it could be cool decoration for my house (”Hey Sean, what is that?! Oh, that is my didgeridoo”).
Here are some non-sleep apnea links about didgeridoos:
- Learn how to play the didgeridoo at Aboriginal Art & Culture Center.
- Learn how to play the didgeridoo at Didgeridoo Store.
- Wikipedia
- Didgeridoo music at well.com
- News, artists, and care related to didgeridoos at wadidge.com
- Forum, artists, and community related to didgeridoos at The Didgeridoo Specialist
Other sites with articles on sleep apnea and didgeridoo:
- Science Daily
- ABC News Online
- Hawaii Health Guide
- Apnea Support Forum
- BBC News
- LA Outback
- Health and Age