Nobody likes snoring. Especially, if you are someone who sleeps with a snorer. However, snoring typically doesn’t just happen. It’s not something some people do and some people don’t. Instead, there are usually health issues related to snoring. Due to this, it is important to identify what is causing the snoring and then go about correcting it. By preventing the snoring both you and anyone else who is in earshot of your bed will enjoy a more restful, comforting night sleep.
What Causes Snoring and How to stop it?
When it comes to what causes snoring and how to stop it, the entire situation lies right on the soft tissue of the throat. When this soft tissue relaxes the air flowing through your throat will begin to vibrate. Some anatomy, such as long tonsils, will crowd the airway, increasing your chance of snoring.
Often times there are health related reasons behind why you breathe out of your mouth instead of your nose. A stuffy nose may force you to breathe out of your mouth, while excessive weight is another reason. The additional fat around your throat will reduce air flow, increasing the chance of snoring. This is why pregnant woman are more likely to snore due to the amount of weight gained during pregnancy.
If you are a smoker you will increase your chance of snoring. Tobacco causes your throat to produce more mucus (as the smoking will dry out the throat and, in order to correct this, the body will naturally increase mucus development).
Beyond all of this, there are also medications (ranging from opioids to sleeping pills and muscle relaxers) that increase the chance of snoring.
How Snoring Impacts Your Health
In some instances, snoring is simply genetic. There is the occasional individual who simply has larger tonsils and this increases the chance of snoring. However, in most cases, snoring does stem from some kind of a health issue.
If you are suffering through a cold you already know what state of health you are in. Thankfully, when you push through the cold, you’ll be able to enjoy a restful night of sleep (without snoring) soon enough. However, if you are wheezing while sleeping (which is common for those who snore) it may damage the soft tissue around your throat, which affects your cardiovascular health.
If you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea you will wake frequently during the night, suffer from drowsiness during the day, and experience higher blood pressure. The higher blood pressure places added strain on your heart, putting you at risk for a number of heart related problems.
If your snoring has been going on for some time now the continuous vibrations may cause some nerve lesions around the soft tissue. This in turn can cause the throat to swell from inflammation, which will lead to further sleep apnea (essentially, it is a continual circle of cause and effect).
How Snoring Impacts Your Sleeping Partner
In most instances when you snore around a sleeping partner it will reduce their quality of sleep. This one issue though can lead to a number of secondary problems (many of which are more serious than the snoring itself). When one individual causes the other to continuously experience a reduced quality of sleep it can put a strain on the relationship, it may make one individual upset and the other feel remorse and shame. It will likely result in a lack of patience and, due to the lack of sleep, both parties will feel exhausted and suffer from enhanced mood swings.
Your partner (or you) may end up sleeping on the couch or investing in a second bed. This might be one of the snoring prevention tips but it is damaging to your intimacy levels. Instead, you need to look for more direct ways to correct what causes snoring and how to stop it.
How to Stop Snoring
When looking at snoring prevention tips it often hinges on what causes the snoring in the first place. If you snore due to medication you may either need to stop the medication or wait for the medication to finish (if you are on a short prescription). If you smoke you should look to quitting, and if the snoring is due to weight gain, you’ll need to focus on shedding some weight (if you’re pregnant this may take longer as weight loss likely won’t come until after you give birth).
Beyond what causes snoring and how to stop it, some added snoring prevention tips include not sleeping on your back. Instead, sleep on your slide. You can also invest in a mattress that allows you to shift elevations. If you sleep at a 15-degree incline you’ll reduce some weight applied to your throat (you can also invest in several pillows that help prop your head up).
If you experience snoring due to nasal congestion you will want to invest in something that helps open up your air passage. There are Breathe Right strips that will open up your nasal cavity and can help with this.
If you are on medication and the medication is long term you should talk to your doctor. There may be another form of medication they can prescribe that doesn’t cause snoring.
What About Extreme Snoring Cases?
In more extreme cases, especially if you suffer from sleep apnea, there is a product called a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which helps improve air flow to your nose through the aid of a mask. It is a different sleeping experience as you’ll need to adjust to sleeping with a mask, but ultimately it may help prevent your snoring.
Sometimes correcting your snoring isn’t a quick fix, but there are options for improving your breathing. It may take some exercise or it may take the investment in a new mattress. Whatever the cause and solution is though, once you correct your snoring you and your sleeping partner will enjoy more fulfilled nights of rest. You just need to take advantage of these snoring prevention tips.