Once you understand what myofunctional therapy exercises are meant to accomplish, they start to make a lot more sense. These exercises retrain the muscles of the tongue, lips, and cheeks to correct patterns like mouth breathing, low tongue posture, and improper swallowing. While a full program should always start with a professional evaluation, there are foundational myofunctional therapy exercises that many providers use as a starting point, and understanding them can help you know what to expect.
Why Myofunctional Therapy Exercises Work
The muscles involved in breathing, swallowing, and resting tongue posture behave like any other muscle group: they respond to repetition and training. Myofunctional therapy exercises are designed to build strength, awareness, and new default patterns in muscles that have often been compensating incorrectly for years. For a full explanation of the disorders these exercises are designed to correct, see our guide on What Is Myofunctional Therapy?
Common Myofunctional Therapy Exercises
Tongue Posture Exercises
One of the most foundational myofunctional therapy exercises focuses on resting tongue posture, teaching the tongue to rest gently against the roof of the mouth rather than low in the mouth or against the teeth. A simple version involves placing the tip of the tongue on the “spot,” just behind the front teeth, and holding it there while breathing through the nose for short intervals throughout the day.
Lip Seal Exercises
For children and adults who habitually breathe through the mouth, lip seal exercises help retrain the lips to stay closed at rest. This might involve holding a button or small object between the lips using gentle suction, or simply practicing conscious lip closure during quiet activities like reading.
Swallowing Pattern Exercises
Correcting a tongue-thrust swallow, where the tongue pushes forward against or between the teeth during swallowing, is one of the more involved parts of a myofunctional therapy program. Exercises typically involve practicing a proper swallow in isolation, often with the tongue tip held to the roof of the mouth, before applying the pattern to actual eating and drinking.
Cheek and Facial Muscle Exercises
Some myofunctional therapy exercises target the cheeks and surrounding facial muscles, particularly for patients with weak muscle tone contributing to mouth breathing or an open-mouth resting posture. These often involve resistance movements, like puffing the cheeks and holding air against gentle pressure.
Breathing Exercises
Since nasal breathing is one of the primary goals of myofunctional therapy, many programs include specific breathing exercises designed to build comfort and capacity for breathing through the nose, especially during activities that used to trigger mouth breathing, like exercise or sleep.
How Often Should Myofunctional Therapy Exercises Be Practiced?
Consistency matters more than intensity. Most providers recommend short daily sessions, often just five to ten minutes, rather than longer sessions done infrequently. Because these exercises are working to build new muscle memory, regular repetition is what drives lasting change. Many families build this into an existing routine, like brushing teeth, to help it stick.
Are These Exercises Safe to Try Without a Provider?
Basic awareness exercises, like practicing resting tongue posture, are generally safe to introduce at home. However, a full myofunctional therapy program should be built around a professional evaluation. Attempting to correct a swallowing pattern or address a suspected tongue-tie without guidance can miss underlying structural issues that need to be addressed first. If you haven’t had an evaluation yet, our guide to what to expect at your first visit walks through what that process looks like.
When Exercises Alone Aren’t Enough
For some patients, myofunctional therapy exercises can’t fully correct the pattern on their own, particularly when a physical restriction like tongue-tie is limiting range of motion. In these cases, providers often recommend a course of exercises both before and after a frenectomy to prepare the muscles and help the new range of motion integrate properly. Learn more on our frenectomy care page.
Exercises for Different Goals
The right combination of myofunctional therapy exercises depends on what’s being addressed. Someone working on tongue-thrust correction will follow a different plan than someone focused primarily on nasal breathing for sleep apnea, which we cover in more depth in Myofunctional Therapy for Sleep Apnea. Similarly, exercises aimed at supporting speech development often overlap with, but aren’t identical to, exercises for swallowing correction, discussed further in How Myofunctional Therapy Helps with Speech Delays.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long until myofunctional therapy exercises show results?
Many people notice small changes, like easier nasal breathing, within a few weeks of consistent practice, while full habit change typically takes several months.
Can adults do the same myofunctional therapy exercises as children?
The core exercises are similar, though pacing and specific focus areas often differ. Our guide on whether myofunctional therapy works for adults covers this in more detail.
Do myofunctional therapy exercises hurt?
No. They involve gentle, repetitive muscle training and shouldn’t cause pain, though some mild muscle fatigue is normal, similar to starting any new exercise routine.
If you’re ready to build a personalized plan, schedule an evaluation at our Chapel Hill, NC office, serving families throughout Chapel Hill, Durham, Carrboro, and the greater Triangle area.