What can you do to quiet nighttime snoring? Johns Hopkins provides nine practical strategies.
Snoring occurs when the muscle that keeps open the airways carrying air from the nose and throat to the lungs relaxes during sleep. This causes the airways to collapse, requiring more forceful inhalation to breathe. Hence, the nocturnal foghorn blasts.
Adults generally start to snore in their late thirties and forties, and the incidence increases when they pass the age of fifty. Snoring predominantly plagues adults but children between the ages of three and thirteen will snore when they have large tonsils and adenoids, or when they have a heavy cold.
If snoring annoys your bedmate, try these techniques to stop it:
- Snoring Tip 1 -- Avoid heavy meals and alcohol within three hours of bedtime. Eating heavily and drinking alcohol before turning in cause greater than normal relaxation of the throat muscles, and this may cause even a “nonsnorer” to snore.
- Snoring Tip 2 -- Avoid tranquilizers and antihistamines before bedtime. Like alcohol, most of these medications suppress neck muscle tone and can cause snoring.
- Snoring Tip 3 -- Lose weight, if you are overweight. No one is certain why weight gain causes snoring. It may be linked to increased fat in the structures around the throat, which diminishes the size of the air passages through which you breathe.
- Snoring Tip 4 -- Avoid sleeping on your back. This position may lead to snoring because the tongue falls back and presses against the top of the airways. It’s preferable to sleep lying on your stomach or on your side. However, for heavy snorers, sleep position has no effect -- they will snore in all positions.
- Snoring Tip 5 -- Try the tennis ball treatment. At bedtime, strap on a fanny pack with a tennis ball in it and position it in the hollow of your back. Alternatively, tape a tennis ball to the back of your pajamas. (A rolled-up pair of socks will also do the trick.) Every time you roll over on your back, you’ll become uncomfortable and roll back on your side.
- Snoring Tip 6 -- Tilt the head of your bed upward. Place telephone books or bricks under the legs at the head of the bed. This may help relieve chronic snoring.
- Snoring Tip 7 -- Seek treatment for allergies and upper respiratory problems that cause nasal obstruction. Congestion due to allergies and colds cause the air passages to narrow. When air flows through a narrow airway, it’s more turbulent and causes the throat tissues to vibrate. Contact an allergy specialist for testing and treatment. If you have nasal congestion due to a cold, use a decongestant.
- Snoring Tip 8 -- Make sure there is a good flow of fresh air in the bedroom. When the room is hot and dry, nasal passages become clogged during sleep, and this often leads to snoring. Keep your windows open and, if necessary, use a humidifier to keep your nasal passages moist.
- Snoring Tip 9 -- If you smoke, quit. Along with its many deadly health consequences, smoking has an irritant effect that causes mucus buildup, inflammation and swelling of the pharynx, and bronchial congestion, all of which can contribute to snoring.
