Snoring occurs when air flows through the throat while we breathe in our sleep. It causes the relaxed tissues in our throat to vibrate and cause harsh, irritating snoring sounds. Everyone snores occasionally, and it’s usually not something to worry about. However, if someone regularly snores at night, it can disrupt the quality of their sleep and cause daytime fatigue, irritability, and increased health problems. Snoring, in fact, maybe a sign of serious health condition, including obstructive sleep apnea, obesity, abnormality in the structure of nose and sleep deprivation.
There are many effective solutions that can help people stop snoring and have a good night sleep.
1. Consider Anti-Snore Pillows Lying on your back makes the base of your tongue and soft palate collapse to the back wall of your throat, causing a vibrating sound during sleep. Sleeping on your side may help prevent this. A body pillow enables you to comfortably sleep on your side and help you stop snoring.
Consider buying an anti-snore pillow to help you elevate your head at night. Anti-snore pillow improves sleeping posture by correctly aligning the spine and keeps the airways from becoming blocked. This promotes deeper and more restful sleep. Dust mites and allergens in your bedroom and in your pillow may contribute to snoring. Replace the old pillow every six months with an anti-snore pillow to prevent snoring.
2. Exercise Regularly and Maintain Healthy Diet Proper exercise and diet may help reduce snoring in people who have started snoring after gaining weight. The excess weight around the neck squeezes the internal diameter of the throat, making it more likely to collapse during sleep which in turn triggers snoring.
Smoking and consuming alcohol reduce the resting tone of the muscles in the back of the throat which increases the probability of snoring. Drinking alcohol four to five hours before sleeping makes snoring worse.
Secretions in the nose and soft palate become stickier due to dehydration. To prevent snoring stay well hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids. Healthy men should drink about 16 cups and women about 11 cups of water a day.
3. Open nasal passages Keeping nasal passages open may help treat snoring. It allows air to move slower through the nose. A clogged nose due to cold weather or other blockage is the common cause of snoring. A hot shower before you go to bed can help open nasal passages. It is a good idea to rinse your nose out with a bottle of saltwater while you're showering to help open up nasal passages.
Anti-snoring devices that are designed to reduce the effects of snoring by holding open nasal airways help prevent snoring. They allow the snorer to breathe more easily through their nose and reduce the need to open their mouth during sleep, thus decreasing snoring. Nasal strips may also work to lift nasal passages and open them up for snore-free sleep.
4. Get a humidifier Dry conditions with low humidity can dry out mucous membranes like the throat and nasal lining. This restricts the natural breathing pattern and causes the tissues to vibrate, resulting in snoring and other respiratory issues. If inflamed nasal tissues are the cause of the snoring problem, a humidifier may help. Humidity acts as a natural moisturizer thereby providing considerable relief from snoring. A humidifier eliminates the dry air and creating a more comfortable sleeping environment for the body, ultimately reducing the snoring. Humidifiers also ease allergy symptoms like flu and the common cold.
5. Buy Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) To keep your nasal airway open during sleep, a CPAP machine at your bedside blows pressurized air into a mask that you can wear over your nose or face. The CPAP machine treatment is often recommended to treat obstructive sleep apnea. The sleeping disorder causes the breath to stop or shallow down in sleep. These pauses can occur as often as 5-30 times in an hour and start again with a loud snort or choking sound. Sleep apnea disrupts a person’s normal breathing patterns and the person gets into a shallow sleep from a deep sleep. Positive airway pressure which is applied to the upper airway through a facial mask is the best treatment for sleep apnea.
6. Use chin straps. For those you who may be snoring as a result of breathing through your mouth, a chin strap might be a helpful solution. Chin straps are designed to hold a user's mouth and jaw closed while sleeping to eliminate oral and nasal dryness during sleep. They reduce the chances of obstructed breathing by making you breathe through your nasal passages.
7. Treat Chronic Allergies Allergies may result in situations like a blockage in the nasal passage which forces you to breathe through your mouth. It often causes excessive snoring and difficulty in breathing. Treating the allergies is especially important for people who snore more often during allergy season. A way to get over these allergic reactions is to take prescription drugs. Many over the counter products are also available to cope with allergies that include a cough and cold tablets like Alka Seltzer Plus Cold And Cough Tablets that are used for relief from symptoms like a cough, cold, headaches, fever, etc. Nasal moisturizing gels and sprays also help in removing nasal congestion but for a temporary period of time.
Allergy control bedding can ensure an increased level of comfort due to its breathable and moisture-wicking materials. A cleaner sleeping environment with protection against allergens, dust mites, and pet dander can help you get rid of the snoring problems.
8. Block Out the Noise Use earplugs as a defense against the snoring noise. Foam Ear Plugs adjust to ear contours to help seal out the noise. Another option to block the noise is to use a white noise therapy device. The white noise machine generates different tones of white noise to help you have a sound sleep. You can easily plug them in any MP3 player or cell phone to play your own music through the large, high-quality speaker.
Snoring might not cause any health issues, but it can significantly disrupt the personal relationships of the snorer and the bed partner. It is vital to pursue snoring treatment aggressively if the snoring is due to sleep apnea. If left untreated sleep apnea can cause daytime dysfunction and puts the snorer at a higher risk for vascular disease. You can try the above treatment options and consult a doctor or sleep specialist to help you and your family get a good night's sleep.