If snoring is causing you (or your partner) to have sleepless nights you may be desperate to find out how to stop snoring. A good first step is to try and understand why you are snoring in the first place. By learning about the common causes of snoring, you will be better prepared to address the problem so you can finally enjoy a restful night’s sleep.
Snoring is caused when the airway becomes partially obstructed and the muscles and soft tissues in your mouth vibrate. This results is a noise that can be anything from soft to very loud. Snoring can be a first warning of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) where the airway becomes completely blocked, which prevents breathing and wakes the sufferer.
A few facts about snoring:
- Men are more likely to be affected than women.
- The older you are the more likely you are to snore. It has been estimated that 60% of men and 40% of women in their sixties snore but snoring can occur at any age.
- Smokers are twice as likely to snore as non smokers.
- Snoring is made worse by alcohol (and some medication including sleeping tablets).
- Being overweight increases the likelihood of snoring.
- Sleeping on your back increases the chances of snoring.
- Colds and allergies make snoring worse.
Often snorers are not aware of any problem and the impact is on those around them. However, it is a mistake to think that there is no effect on the snorer. Whilst snoring is quite common it should not be considered to be “normal” and action should be taken to stop. Effectively the body is struggling to breath and, even if they do not wake up, snorers are not getting a good nights sleep and may feel tired during the day. Snoring is putting their body under some stress making them more likely to suffer (amongst other things) high blood pressure, heart conditions and strokes.
So, how to stop snoring – well there are lots of products on the market that aim to help including:
- Special pillows and other devices to encourage sleeping in the best position to avoid snoring.
- Oral and nasal sprays (see SnoreZip) aimed at keeping the airways open.
- Exercises to increase the muscle tone of the upper airway.
- Various devices worn externally to keep the jaw in the best position to avoid snoring.
- Oral devices such as mouthpieces (often fitted by a dentist) to push the jaw forward.
- The final resort – surgery.
None of these (including surgery) are guaranteed to work for everyone. Whilst it is worth trying these options it will always be worthwhile tackling the underlying cause of the snoring. Since the most common causes of snoring are being overweight, smoking and drinking alcohol the ultimate solution to “ How To Stop Snoring ” often lies in addressing these, although changing these things it is easy to say and hard to do.