Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy and Its Effect on Tongue Posture and Swallowing

Myofunctional therapy is, in essence, physiotherapy for the face and tongue. It involves a series of exercises designed to retrain the muscles of the mouth and throat — particularly the tongue — to function the way they were designed to.

This meta-analysis looked at nine studies and found something remarkable: simply exercising the tongue and retraining its resting position cut sleep apnoea severity in half for adults and by nearly two-thirds for children. No surgery. No devices. Just teaching the body to hold its own airway open.

The mechanism is straightforward. During sleep, the muscles relax. If the tongue habitually rests low in the mouth (a "low tongue posture"), it falls backward and blocks the airway. Myofunctional therapy trains the tongue to rest on the palate — which is where it was always supposed to be. When the tongue is up, the airway stays open.

This evidence bridges the gap between "Space to Swallow Well" and "Space to Breathe Well" — because swallowing correctly and breathing correctly are, in the end, the same structural challenge.