13 Ways To Beat Snoring For Better Sleep | GetDocSays

If you snore, you’re not alone as almost everyone does.

Let me tell you why this happens. When air flows through your throat as you breathe while sleeping, it causes the relaxed tissues in your throat to vibrate and cause harsh, irritating snoring sounds.

Snoring may indicate serious health conditions

Snoring is not a condition one should ignore or take for granted. It may disrupt your sleep, or that of your partner. And in fact, may be a sign of a serious health condition, such as:

• obstructive sleep apnea (blocked airways)
• obesity
• an issue with the structure of your mouth, nose, or throat
• sleep deprivation

Causes of Snoring

In many cases, the causal factors are due to:

• Mouth anatomy. Having a low, thick soft palate can narrow your airway. People who are overweight may have extra tissues in the back of their throats that may narrow their airways. Likewise, if the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula) is elongated, airflow can be obstructed and vibration increased.
• Alcohol consumption. Snoring can also be brought on by consuming too much alcohol before bedtime. Alcohol relaxes throat muscles and decreases your natural defenses against airway obstruction.
• Nasal problems. Chronic nasal congestion or a crooked partition between your nostrils (deviated nasal septum) may contribute to snoring.
• Sleep deprivation. Not getting enough sleep can lead to further throat relaxation.
• Sleep position. Snoring is typically most frequent and loudest when sleeping on the back as gravity’s effect on the throat narrows the airway.

Risk Factors

Multiple risk factors that predispose you to snoring.

• Being a man. Men are more likely to snore or have sleep apnea than are women.
• Being overweight. People who are overweight or obese are more likely to snore or have obstructive sleep apnea. In other words, difficulty in breathing due to an obstruction 
• Having a narrow airway. Some people may have a long soft palate, or large tonsils or adenoids, which can narrow the airway and cause snoring.
• Drinking alcohol. Alcohol relaxes your throat muscles, increasing the risk.
• Having nasal problems. If you have a structural defect in your airway, such as a deviated septum, or your nose is chronically congested, your risk of snoring is greater.
• Having a family history of snoring or obstructive sleep apnea. Heredity is a potential risk factor for OSA.

In some cases, it’s important to seek a doctor’s care especially those that involve structural abnormalities. However, benign factors — like sleep position — can often be treated with simple home remedies.

13 Ways to Beat Snoring:

1. Lose weight if you are overweight. 

   This will help reduce the amount of tissue in the throat that might cause snoring. You can lose weight by reducing your overall caloric intake by eating smaller portions and more healthy foods. Make sure you get regular exercise daily. You may also consider seeing your doctor or a nutritionist for help.

2. Sleep on your side. 

   Sleeping on your back sometimes causes the tongue to move to the back of the throat, which partly blocks airflow through your throat. Sleeping on your side may be all you need to do to allow air to flow easily and reduce or stop your snoring.

3. Raise up the head of your bed. 

   Elevating the head of your bed by four inches may help reduce your snoring by keeping your airways open.

4. Use nasal strips or an external nasal dilator. 

   Stick-on nasal strips can be placed on the bridge of the nose to help increase the space in the nasal passage. This can make your breathing more effective and reduce or eliminate your snoring. You could also try a nasal dilator, which is a stiffened adhesive strip that’s applied on top of the nose across the nostrils. This can decrease airflow resistance, making it easier to breathe.

5. Treat chronic allergies. 

   Allergies can reduce airflow through your nose, which forces you to breathe through your mouth. This increases the likelihood that you’ll snore. Talk to your doctor about what kind of over-the-counter or prescription allergy medications may improve your condition.

6. Correct structural problems in your nose. 

   Some people are born with or experience an injury that gives them a deviated septum. This is the misalignment of the wall that separates both sides of the nose, which restricts airflow. It may cause mouth breathing during sleep, causing snoring. It may be necessary to get surgery to correct this condition. Talk to your doctor.

7. Limit or avoid alcohol before bed. 

   Try not to consume alcohol for at least two hours leading up to your bedtime. Alcohol can relax the throat muscles which can in turn cause you to snore.

8. Stop smoking. 

   Smoking is an unhealthy habit that can worsen your snoring. Talk to your doctor about therapies — such as gum or patches — that can help you quit.

9. Get enough sleep. 

   Make sure you get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep you need each night in order to avoid snoring.

10. Use a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. 

    If medically appropriate, wearing a pressurized air mask over your nose when you sleep can help keep your airway open. This treatment is often recommended to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

11. Wear palatal implants. 

    Also called the “pillar procedure,” this treatment involves injecting braided strands of polyester filament into your mouth’s soft palate. This stiffens it to reduce snoring.

12. Get UPPP (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty). 

    This type of surgery tightens throat tissue in the hopes it will reduce snoring. Laser-assisted uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (LAUPPP), which is sometimes more effective than UPPP, is also available.

13. Radiofrequency tissue ablation (somnoplasty). 

    This new treatment uses low-intensity radio waves to shrink the tissue on your soft palate to reduce snoring.

Tags

• adequate sleep
• apnea
• Obstructive sleep apnea
• poor sleep
• sleep
• sleep apnea
• sleep debt