Didgeridoo Practice Cuts Sleep Apnoea Severity in Randomised Trial

A 2006 randomised controlled trial out of Switzerland tested whether learning to play the didgeridoo could treat moderate obstructive sleep apnoea. Twenty-five patients with apnoea-hypopnoea indices between 15 and 30 were split between a didgeridoo training group and a waiting-list control. The intervention group took lessons in lip technique and circular breathing, then practised about 25 minutes a day, six days a week, for four months using a standardised acrylic instrument.

The results were statistically meaningful. Daytime sleepiness on the Epworth scale dropped by three points relative to controls, the apnoea-hypopnoea index fell by roughly six episodes per hour, and partners reported substantially less sleep disturbance. Subjective sleep quality and general health-related quality of life did not shift. The authors attribute the effect to training of the upper airway muscles that control airway dilation and stiffening, the same muscles whose collapse drives apnoea events.

The study matters because continuous positive airway pressure is poorly tolerated by many moderately affected patients, leaving a treatment gap. A cheap instrument and daily practice produced a measurable reduction in objective apnoea metrics, making didgeridoo playing a credible, well-accepted alternative for this patient subset rather than a curiosity.