What You Should Know About Snoring

Snoring effects is not a fun at all because it disrupts sleep for the entire household. This condition can disturb bed mates and family more than the person that exhibits the chronic habit.

One important thing to note here is that the factor that causes the snoring effect has to be discovered so as to know the corrective measures to apply. 

 

Snoring is always regarded as a simple condition that is common in most people as they sleep; basic things one needs to know about it are provided in this article.

1. Nasal Obstruction Causes Snoring

Snoring is caused by certain conditions that affect the airways while sleeping. Some of these conditions are nasal obstructions, having narrow airways due to mouth anatomy, excessive alcohol intake and sleeping positions while some can be habitual.

There are possible ways by which snoring can be reduced. Habitual snoring can be reduced by using a good sleeping position such as sleeping on the side making sure that the bed is well adjusted, also avoid taking alcohol before bedtime.

Another corrective measure that can reduce snoring is by using nasal strips.

2. Overweight Can Cause Snoring

Being overweight means adding more fat in the body than the optimal body fat. Every part of the body shares in the additional fat when excess weight becomes the case. The neck region is not an exceptional part.

The neck muscle gets thicker as the body gains more fat thereby causing the airways to close gradually. The narrower the airways, the more likely the tissues inside the neck become to vibrate against one another causing the snoring sound.

 

3. Sleeping Trick as a Solution

Certain sleep aids (sleeping positions) can help to reduce snoring but the major practical one is to sleep on side position.

Another effective sleep aid that reduces snoring is the position of the tongue while sleeping; the tongue should be relaxed at the roof of the mouth to prevent is from falling back to the throat to block the airways thereby causing snoring.

4. Follow It up on Time

Long-term snoring causes health problems such as obstructive sleep apnea and hardening of the carotid arteries.

Obstructive sleep apnea brings about other risk factors to the heart if not taken care of; such are breathe interruption while sleeping which is caused by blocked airways, heart enlargement, heart strain and other heart diseases which may result from this problem.

5. Help a Snorer in Your Home

If you live with a snorer in your home, the first thing to do is to understand him or her with the condition being passed through all night.

You are the person that is been deprived of sleep and you can't equally run away from the house; just help the person with the following tips: roll the snorer to sleep on his/her side or stomach.

Provide the snorer with a thicker pillow and alleviate the head to keep the nasal passage open. You can use earplug to protect your ears from the noise or use a headphone to play music.

Find a source of relaxing or something that could help you calm and fall asleep easily. You can equally move to a different room to get the noise reduced. Consider other solutions like nasal strips or decongestants, also advice the snorer against alcoholic intake. 

6. Avoid Things that Worsen the Case

Allergic substances and alcohol can make snoring worse even when the snorer applies sleeping tricks mentioned in point 3 above. Other substances such as drug addiction that cause nasal blockage can aggravate snoring.

Help yourself if you are a snorer to avoid things that worsen the condition such as chronic alcoholic intake, tobacco smoke, overstress, sore throat, asthma, thyroid disorders and others.

Some of the causes might have corrective measures; try and correct such before it signals other health issues.

7. See a Health Practitioner

Some of the causes of snoring cannot easily be corrected by lifestyle adjustment. If you have a snoring habit or live with a snorer, who must have followed the tips provided above but didn’t see a positive result the next step is to consult a doctor.

Your healthcare provider will know best if there is some other underlying health factors affecting the situation, necessary test to carry out and the best treatment if it requires medical attention.

 

8. Surgical Solutions

Some of the different types of surgeries that can help to reduce snoring are Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UP3 or UPPP) used to remove tissues in the throat caused by obstructive sleep apnea; Somnoplasty is a surgical operation used for correcting sleep apnoea, habitual snoring and nasal problems; Septoplasty a surgical method that is used to correct deviated nasal septum.

Radiofrequency Palatoplasty is the advanced method of somnoplasty that uses electric light to correct snoring. These surgical methods are highly effective in reducing or stopping snoring once the operation is successful.

9. Snoring Affects Relationship

Snoring have affected many relationships negatively mainly in cases where the one partner has failed to understand the guilty party. If your partner snores, express your mind and then seek solutions together.

Medical directors specializing in addressing the case of sleep disorders have stated that severe snoring disturbs partners' sleep thereby causing the feeling of agitation, depression and anger.

Similarly, National Sleep Foundation discovered that more than one-third of persons who were called upon to issue a response to a communication made on snoring replied that partners’ sleep disorder caused relationship problems.

One simple way to avoid relationship disharmony which may arise from snoring habit is to express your worries in a calm way and tackle it together for the wellbeing of both parties.

 

10. Difference between Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

There is always a misinterpretation of these two conditions. You should know that sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that causes irregular airflow during sleep; it causes repeated stop and starts in breathing while sleeping.

While snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea; it is caused by airflow squeezing through a narrowed airway part while sleeping.

Snoring can be stopped by some natural solutions and lifestyle changes while sleep apnea most times is corrected by medical solution, including surgical operations.

 

Natural Ways of Avoiding Snoring

As mentioned above, snoring can be corrected by some natural ways and the little adjustment in lifestyle.

Aside from changing sleep positions, losing weight and avoiding excess alcoholic intake which has been mentioned earlier in some of the paragraphs above; staying well hydrated always can also be a solution.

Another is to mind what you eat before going to bed then practice good sleeping position, open up your nose while sleeping and try to lift your pillow in such a  way that the neck and spine will align to get the airways open.

 

Once you have the knowledge of the major things associated with snoring, it may not appear difficult to live with it or rather get rid of it.  People that live with snorers can read through the tips provided in the article for better management.