Snoring was once seen as a mere inconvenience interfering with proper sleep, but it is recognized nowadays as a potential symptom of several diseases, such as sleep apnea, hypertension or heart disease. There are several major factors (although you might not necessarily have them and still snore) that contribute to snoring.
Do you fit the snorer profile?
You might have this information already, of the fact that obesity is contributing factor to snoring. Having said that, it is also a manageable condition. Controlling your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a good way of maintaining your weight within the suggested limits.
Additionally, when considering your weight as a contributing factor to your snoring, the circumference of the waist, neck and fatty deposits on the pharyngeal walls are also measured when making the diagnosis.
Clinical investigations clearly point to the fact that there is a strong male prevalence in snoring with a 3:1 ratio men to women, respectively. This rate changes when women have entered the postmenopausal stage and the proportion of snoring individuals levels out.
A male hormone, androgen, is the one responsible for this accumulation as well as fat deposits concentrating around the shoulders, neck, and abdomen. Androgen also stimulates appetite leading to weight gain, and salt retention, and these, in turn, can exacerbate snoring conditions.
Age is another element that contributes to snoring. When we age, we lose muscle tone everywhere in our body, including our neck, throat as well as the soft palate. When the soft palate becomes limp, it is more likely to have vibration, linking it directly with snoring.
Recent studies show that we should not ignore the genetic element when considering the tendency for snoring. You should be conscious that if your parents and grandparents used to snore, you are more prone to exhibit the same condition at some point in your life if it has not happened yet.
Alcohol & medicines
Drinking alcohol and some types of medicine have a significant role in respiratory problems too. They act as a muscle relaxant to our body. If consumed in the hours just before sleep, they are contributing to relax your muscles as well as the palate. Therefore this raises the respiratory pauses in snorers and even causes non-snores to snore.
Additionally, there is evidence that many drugs including tranquilizers and barbiturates increase the apnea frequency. Also, substances hurting the mucosa of the upper airway, such as tobacco, can aggravate snoring and apneas.
Resting position of the head & neck
If you snore or share a bedroom with a person who does, you have probably noticed that the sleeping position during sleep has its influence over snoring.
The face up horizontal position during rest causes the tongue and soft palate to fall back, which has an adverse influence on the diameter of the upper airway and predisposes to breathe through the mouth. This position can even cause healthy patients to snore and have the occasional apneic episode.
Watch this video to get an idea of what posture would work better to help you stop snoring.
The most normal type of breathing, which helps reducing snoring is breathing through your nose. When this is not possible due to allergic rhinitis, deviated nasal septum, swollen adenoids, nasal blockage or polyps, we get used to mouth breathing, predisposing the upper airway to collapse resulting in snoring.
Find out how you can stop snoring with SnoreRX, the most reliable mouthpiece.