Stop Snoring: Managing Snoring and Dealing with Complaints

Why Do I Snore?

Snoring is the sound of your soft tissue vibrating in your head and neck as you inhale. This noise can come from your tonsils, nasal passages, the roof of your mouth, or even the base of your tongue. As you snore you weaken the muscles in the head and neck, so over long periods of time, snoring usually deteriorates.

Snoring frequently can severely affect restful sleeping patterns for you and also anybody sleeping near you; many snorers find relationships can become strained if a partner is being kept awake regularly. Snoring can be worsened by obesity, drinking alcohol, smoking, or taking sedatives, and allergies which can swell or inflame your nasal passages. Age and posture can also often play a role. As well as making lifestyle changes to combat these factors, there are other effective solutions to help you stop snoring.

Severe snoring could be a symptom of sleep apnoea which is a much more serious condition that restricts the levels of oxygen in your blood. If you or your partner notice gasping, choking, or long gaps between breaths during the night, or you suffer from extreme abnormal tiredness, causing you to fall asleep during the day, these can be red flags for sleep apnoea. Similar methods can and should be applied to relieve snoring or sleep apnoea, but you should visit your doctor first if you suspect the latter.

How Can I Deal With My Snoring?

Dealing with snoring or a partner who snores can be a real struggle. Even the best of relationships can be affected by the loss of sleep, night-time arguments, or even sleeping separately. It is important to tackle a snoring problem directly and try to find a cure rather than only implementing remedies such as earplugs or a pillow-over-the-head.

Being told snoring is a problem can come as a shock to some sufferers; however, getting enough sleep is an essential part of life, and it has been known to cause real rifts between people if one person is preventing the other from doing so.

From losing weight to establishing regular sleeping patterns there are tonnes of tried and tested ways to alter your snoring without using a device. As mentioned earlier, smoking, allergies, and sedatives can all affect your snoring. Experiment with different sleeping positions; try using a humidifier, or even nasal decongestants. Singing regularly has also been used as a way to decrease the severity of your snoring.

What are Anti-snoring Products?

In terms of anti-snoring methods and devices, there are a lot of different contraptions and theories out there. Some of these can do more harm than good if they keep you awake, or do nothing at all. There are also many effective techniques and devices that can and will prevent or lessen snoring or sleep apnea, and finding the right one for you is important. Trying to understand how and why you snore is a useful step to take.

​If your snoring is already severe or you have found the above methods ineffective there are several medical solutions that have a higher success rate and you can and should use these in combination with lifestyle changes.

Some sufferers elect to sleep with a mask that blows pressurized air to keep their airways open at night. This is effective but there are also often complaints of being kept awake.

A popular first port of call for snorers is oral devices such as anti-snoring mouthpieces or jaw positioners. If your snoring originates from the position of your tongue when you sleep these can be especially effective. Read through some stop-snoring mouth-guard reviews to understand better which kind might help you.

Some have even opted for surgery to bring the snoring to an end. This can include removing tissue such as tonsils or inserting small implants to stiffen the tissue. More recently laser surgery has been used to achieve similar results.

Also Read: Sleep Tips: Can 4-7-8 breathing really help you fall asleep faster?