Pretty much everyone on the planet will snore at some point in their life – but when that snoring becomes prolonged, loud, or a daily occurrence, you can lose out on your quality and quantity of sleep – and so can your partner. Poor quality sleep can cause a number of problems, including daytime fatigue, mood changes, feeling irritable, relationship troubles if your partner is being kept awake and an increased risk of other medical conditions. However, it’s important to know that there is no one set cause for snoring. Snoring is usually caused by a physical problem and that problem will be different for everyone, so to stop snoring, it needs to be identified and treated. Some common causes of snoring are outlined below.
Age – the older you get, the narrower your throat gets. Your muscle tone, which works to keep your airways open, will also decrease, increasing the likelihood of collapsed airways and therefore snoring.
Excess Tissue – often, snoring can be caused by there being simply too much soft tissue in the back of the throat, be it from the soft palate, the uvula, the adenoids or the tonsils. This tissue vibrates, causing snoring.
Excess Weight – even just being 10% overweight can cause snoring, due to there being excess fatty tissue in the back of the throat and lessened muscle tone. Losing this weight can work wonders in preventing snoring.
Sleep Position – how you sleep is a big factor in snoring. Sleeping on your back causes your jaw to fall in a certain way so that snoring is more likely, whereas sleeping on your side makes snoring less likely. Equally, whether you breathe through your nose or your mouth when sleeping will dictate whether you’re a snorer or not.
Cold or Infection – having a throat, ear or nose infection can cause snoring as the airways are blocked. Even a common cold can cause snoring, although luckily this cause of snoring can be cured with some cold and flu medication or some antibiotics.
Use of Alcohol, Drugs or Cigarettes – all of these things can cause the muscles in your throat to relax, making snoring far more likely.
As you can see, a number of the snoring causes above can all be helped massively by things that you can do at home yourself. Some lifestyle changes to help you stop snoring are outlined below:
Lose Weight – as mentioned above, losing just 10% of your body weight can reduce that excess tissue in the back of the throat and can help to reduce snoring, or even eliminate it altogether.
Quit the Drugs – alcohol, drugs and cigarettes are not good for your general health, so they are not going to be good for your sleep. Quit using them and you should really notice an improvement in your snoring.
Sleep on Your Side – sleeping on your side reduces the chance that the soft tissues in the back of the throat will cause an obstruction. To keep on your side for the whole night, sew a tennis ball into the lining of your pajamas so that if you do roll onto your back, it forces you back onto your side.
Position Your Body – the use of body pillows and wedge pillows can help massively in preventing snoring as they position your jaw in such a way that your airways remain clear, meaning that you stop snoring. They’re also relatively inexpensive, too.
Treat Your Congestion – having nasal congestion is no fun for anyone, but you can treat it with an at-home irrigation system, such as a neti pot or an ear syringe. Getting rid of this congestion will enable you to breathe through your nose, meaning that you’re less likely to snore through your mouth.
If you have tried the above solutions to snoring and have not yet found something that works for you, see your doctor. Equally, if you begin to experience any more symptoms aside from the snoring, seek medical attention.