How to stop snoring naturally?

burgerdoreen · April 19, 2021, 5:55pm

How to stop snoring naturally? Snoring is the hoarse or harsh sound that occurs when air flows past relaxed tissues in your throat, causing the tissues to vibrate as you breathe. Nearly everyone snores now and then, but for some people it can be a chronic problem. Sometimes it may also indicate a serious health condition. Lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, avoiding alcohol close to bedtime or sleeping on your side, can help stop snoring.
In addition, medical devices and surgery are available that may reduce disruptive snoring. However, these aren’t suitable or necessary for everyone who snores.

Causes

Snoring can be caused by a number of factors, such as the anatomy of your mouth and sinuses, alcohol consumption, allergies, a cold, and your weight.
When you doze off and progress from a light sleep to a deep sleep, the muscles in the roof of your mouth (soft palate), tongue and throat relax. The tissues in your throat can relax enough that they partially block your airway and vibrate.
The more narrowed your airway, the more forceful the airflow becomes. This increases tissue vibration, which causes your snoring to grow louder.

The following conditions can affect the airway and cause snoring:

Your mouth anatomy. Having a low, thick soft palate can narrow your airway. People who are overweight may have extra tissues in the back of their throats that may narrow their airways. Likewise, if the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula) is elongated, airflow can be obstructed and vibration increased.
Alcohol consumption. Snoring can also be brought on by consuming too much alcohol before bedtime. Alcohol relaxes throat muscles and decreases your natural defenses against airway obstruction.
Nasal problems. Chronic nasal congestion or a crooked partition between your nostrils (deviated nasal septum) may contribute to your snoring.
Sleep deprivation. Not getting enough sleep can lead to further throat relaxation.
Sleep position. Snoring is typically most frequent and loudest when sleeping on the back as gravity’s effect on the throat narrows the airway.

Symptoms

Snoring is often associated with a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Not all snorers have OSA, but if snoring is accompanied by any of the following symptoms, it may be an indication to see a doctor for further evaluation for OSA:
• Witnessed breathing pauses during sleep
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Morning headaches
• Sore throat upon awakening
• Restless sleep
• Gasping or choking at night
• High blood pressure
• Chest pain at night
• Your snoring is so loud it’s disrupting your partner’s sleep
• In children, poor attention span, behavioral issues or poor performance in school
OSA often is characterized by loud snoring followed by periods of silence when breathing stops or nearly stops. Eventually, this reduction or pause in breathing may signal you to wake up, and you may awaken with a loud snort or gasping sound.
You may sleep lightly due to disrupted sleep. This pattern of breathing pauses may be repeated many times during the night.
People with obstructive sleep apnea usually experience periods when breathing slows or stops at least five times during every hour of sleep.

When to see a doctor?
See your doctor if you have any of the above symptoms. These may indicate your snoring is associated with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
If your child snores, ask your pediatrician about it. Children can have OSA, too. Nose and throat problems — such as enlarged tonsils — and obesity often can narrow a child’s airway, which can lead to your child developing OSA.

Risk factors

Risk factors that may contribute to snoring include:
• Being a man. Men are more likely to snore or have sleep apnea than are women.
• Being overweight. People who are overweight or obese are more likely to snore or have obstructive sleep apnea.
• Having a narrow airway. Some people may have a long soft palate, or large tonsils or adenoids, which can narrow the airway and cause snoring.
• Drinking alcohol. Alcohol relaxes your throat muscles, increasing the risk of snoring.
• Having nasal problems. If you have a structural defect in your airway, such as a deviated septum, or your nose is chronically congested, your risk of snoring is greater.
• Having a family history of snoring or obstructive sleep apnea. Heredity is a potential risk factor for OSA.

Complications

Habitual snoring may be more than just a nuisance. Aside from disrupting a bed partner’s sleep, if snoring is associated with OSA, you may be at risk for other complications, including:
• Daytime sleepiness
• Frequent frustration or anger
• Difficulty concentrating
• A greater risk of high blood pressure, heart conditions and stroke
• An increased risk of behavior problems, such as aggression or learning problems, in children with OSA
• An increased risk of motor vehicle accidents due to lack of sleep.

Snoring Diagnosis and Treatment

Your partner might be the person who tells you that you snore. Your doctor will ask both of you about your symptoms.
Your doctor will also ask about your medical history and do a physical exam to look for things that could block your airways, like chronic nasal congestion due to rhinitis or sinusitis, a deviated septum, or swollen tonsils. They might also give you some tests:
Imaging tests. An X-ray, MRI scan, or CT scan can look for problems in your airways.
Sleep study. You might need to have a machine monitor your sleep while you’re at home or spend the night in a lab for a test called polysomnography. It will measure things like your heart rate, breathing, and brain activity while you sleep.
Treatments for snoring include:
 Lifestyle changes. Your doctor might tell you to lose weight, quit smoking, or stop drinking alcohol before bed.
 ■■■■ appliances. You wear a small plastic device in your mouth while you sleep. It keeps your airways open by moving your jaw or tongue.
 Surgery. Several kinds of procedures can help stop snoring. Your doctor might remove or shrink tissues in your throat, or make your soft palate stiffer.
 CPAP. A continuous positive airway pressure machine treats sleep apnea and might reduce snoring by blowing air into your airways while you sleep.

15 Snoring remedies

In some cases of snoring, it’s important to seek a doctor’s care in order to get the medical treatment you need to address the underlying condition.
Cases of snoring caused by benign factors — like sleep position — can often be treated with simple home remedies.
Here are 15 remedies commonly used to treat snoring and its various causes:

Lose weight if you are overweight.
This will help reduce the amount of tissue in the throat that might be causing your snoring. You can lose weight by reducing your overall caloric intake by eating smaller portions and more healthy foods. Make sure you get regular exercise daily. You may also consider seeing your doctor or a nutritionist for help.
2. Sleep on your side.
Sleeping on your back sometimes causes the tongue to move to the back of the throat, which partly blocks airflow through your throat. Sleeping on your side may be all you need to do to allow air to flow easily and reduce or stop your snoring.
3. Raise up the head of your bed.
Elevating the head of your bed by four inches may help reduce your snoring by keeping your airways open.
4. Use nasal strips or an external nasal dilator.
Stick-on nasal strips can be placed on the bridge of the nose to help increase the space in the nasal passage. This can make your breathing more effective and reduce or eliminate your snoring.
You could also try a nasal dilator, which is a stiffened adhesive strip that’s applied on top of the nose across the nostrils. This can decrease airflow resistance, making it easier to breath.
Try nasal strips to help reduce snoring.
5. Treat chronic allergies.
Allergies can reduce airflow through your nose, which forces you to breathe through your mouth. This increases the likelihood that you’ll snore. Talk to your doctor about what kind of over-the-counter or prescription allergy medications may improve your condition.
Buy over-the-counter allergy medication now.
6. Correct structural problems in your nose.
Some people are born with or experience an injury that gives them a deviated septum. This is the misalignment of the wall that separates both sides of the nose, which restricts airflow. It may cause mouth breathing during sleep, causing snoring. It may be necessary to get surgery to correct this condition. Talk to your doctor.
7. Limit or avoid alcohol before bed.
Try not to consume alcohol for at least two hours leading up to your bedtime. Alcohol can relax the throat muscles, causing snoring.
8. Avoid taking sedatives before bed.
If you snore and take sedatives, talk to your doctor to see what your options are. Stopping sedative use before bed may ease your snoring.
9. Stop smoking.
Smoking is an unhealthy habit that can worsen your snoring. Talk to your doctor about therapies — such as gum or patches — that can help you quit.
10. Get enough sleep.
Make sure you get the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep you need each night.
11. Use an ■■■■ appliance.
Dental mouthpieces called “■■■■ appliances” can help keep your air passages open, making it easier for you to breathe. This prevents snoring. You need to see your dentist to get one of these devices made.
12. Use a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine.
If medically appropriate, wearing a pressurized air mask over your nose when you sleep can help keep your airway open. This treatment is often recommended to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
13. Wear palatal implants.
Also called the “pillar procedure,” this treatment involves injecting braided strands of polyester filament into your mouth’s soft palate. This stiffens it to reduce snoring.
14. Get UPPP (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty).
This type of surgery tightens throat tissue in the hopes it will reduce snoring. Laser-assisted uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (LAUPPP), which is sometimes more effective than UPPP, is also available.
15. Radiofrequency tissue ablation (somnoplasty).
This new treatment uses low-intensity radio waves to shrink the tissue on your soft palate to reduce snoring.

What Mouth Exercises Can Help Stop Snoring?

There are various types of exercises meant to strengthen the tongue, facial muscles, and throat through specific training techniques. Each of these exercises can be grouped together in various ways and performed two to three times per day.

Tongue Exercises

Tongue Exercise : Tongue Slide
Place the tip of your tongue against the back of your top front teeth. Slowly slide your tongue backward with the tip moving along the roof of your mouth. Repeat 5-10 times.
Purpose of exercise: This strengthens your tongue and throat muscles.
Tongue Exercise : Tongue Stretch
Stick out your tongue as far as you can. Try to touch your chin with your tongue while looking at the ceiling. Hold for 10 – 15 seconds and increase the duration gradually. Repeat 5 times.
Purpose of Exercise: Increase tongue strength
Tongue Exercise : Tongue Push Up
Stick your tongue upward against the roof of your mouth and press your entire tongue against it. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Repeat 5 times.
Purpose: Improve tongue and soft palate tone and strength
Tongue Exercise : Tongue Push Down
Put the tip of your tongue against your lower front teeth and then push the back of your tongue flat against the floor of your mouth. Hold this position for 10 seconds. Repeat 5 times.
Purpose: Improve tongue and soft palate tone and strength

Face Exercises

Mouth exercises engage your facial muscles to help prevent snoring. These exercises can be done several times per day.

Face Exercise: Cheek ■■■■
Use a hooked finger to lightly pull your right check outward, and then use your facial muscles to pull your cheek back inward. Repeat 10 times on each side.
Purpose: Assists in closure of mouth while breathing
Face Exercise:
Tightly close your mouth by pursing your lips. Then open your mouth, relaxing your jaw and lips. Repeat 10 times.
Purpose: Improves tone and strength of jaws and facial and throat muscles.

Breathing Through Your Nose
• Practice breathing through your nose.
• With your mouth closed and your jaw relaxed, inhale through your nose.
• Then, take a finger or knuckle and close off one nostril.
• Breathe out gently through the open nostril.
• Do this about 10 times while alternating between nostrils.
• You may even notice one nostril tends to be more congested than the other, and choose to work on breathing through the congested nostril.
Purpose: This exercise improves nasal breathing, which stabilizes the airway during sleep.

Pronouncing Vowel Sounds
Saying different vowel sounds involves the muscles in your throat, so deliberately repeating these sounds can help tone those muscles.
Repeat the vowel sounds a-e-i-o-u. Start by saying each normally, and then adjust how much you stretch out the sound or how rapidly you say the vowel. Repeat the same sound 10 or 20 times in a row, and then change to a different sound. You can combine sounds (such as ooo-aaah) and repeat those as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

1- What causes snoring?

Snoring can be caused by a number of factors, such as the anatomy of your mouth and sinuses, alcohol consumption, allergies, a cold, and your weight. When you doze off and progress from a light sleep to a deep sleep, the muscles in the roof of your mouth (soft palate), tongue and throat relax.

2- Why do we snore while sleeping?

Snoring happens when you can’t move air freely through your nose and throat during sleep. This makes the surrounding tissues vibrate, which produces the familiar snoring sound. People who snore often have too much throat and nasal tissue or “floppy” tissue that is more prone to vibrate.

3- Is snoring a bad sign?

Heavy snoring can sound funny to your sleep partner, but the condition is no joke. Snoring is often the sign of a condition called obstructive sleep apnea, which raises the risk for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

4- Do skinny people snore?

Being overweight increases fat around the neck, compressing and narrowing the throat. But thin people do snore too, and many who are overweight do not.

5- How do you sleep next to a snorer?

• Don’t focus on the sound of snoring. Yes, this may be easier said than done.
• Wear ear plugs.
• Listen to music or white noise.
• Change your partner’s position.
• Encourage your partner to get evaluated.
• Sleep in a different room.

6- Why can’t I hear myself snore?

We usually don’t hear ourselves snoring because some parts of the brain are tamped down when we fall asleep. It may also be a matter of the how deeply we are sleeping. Some people have reported hearing themselves snoring only when they were in the process of waking up.

7- What is the best device to stop snoring?

• Best Overall - SnoreRX Plus.
• Best Value - VitalSleep.
• Best Customization - ZQuiet.
• Best Tongue Retaining Device - Good Morning Snore Solution.
• Most Comfortable - Snorple Compound ■■■■ Appliance.

8- Is loud snoring normal?

Snoring is noisy breathing while you sleep. It’s a common condition that can affect anyone, although it happens more often in men and in people who are overweight. Snoring tends to get worse with age. Snoring once in a while isn’t usually a serious problem.

9- Why have I started snoring all of a sudden?

If you have suddenly begun to snore or have only just started to notice, it is likely to be due to a recent physical change in your mouth or throat. This could be caused by: putting on weight, especially around the neck. Jaw misalignment due to an injury.

10- Do nasal strips help with snoring?

If congestion is the cause of your or your bedmate’s snoring, Breathe Right nasal strips can help. By opening your nasal passages so you can breathe better, Breathe Right nasal strips can reduce or even eliminate snoring.

CONCLUSION:
Snoring is the hoarse or harsh sound that occurs when air flows past relaxed tissues in your throat, causing the tissues to vibrate as you breathe. Lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, avoiding alcohol close to bedtime or sleeping on your side, can help stop snoring.