make while sleeping? Do you wake up in the morning not feeling
completely rested? Does this happen to you more than a couple of times
a week?
Everyone snores occasionally, but if you're a habitual snorer when you
sleep, you may actually have a real snoring problem. Snoring is a
significant problem that can not only affect you, your health, and your
ability to concentrate; but it can also affect the people who sleep in the
same room—and sometimes in the same house—as you do.
Let us explore what snoring is, what causes snoring, and the
various ways to improve snoring. The discussion will help you to determine
whether or not your snoring problem is a result of sleep apnea or another
serious medically-related snoring condition, as well as common risks
associated with being or becoming a snorer, and help you decide when
you should seek out the help of a physician.
What is Snoring?Snoring is caused by a vibration in the soft tissues at the back of the
throat, including the uvula and the soft palate. Snoring occurs while you
are sleeping.
The vibrations are caused by your breathing passages either being
blocked or severely narrowed while you are breathing, when your muscles
relax and your tongue falls back.
The noise can vary from person to person and can sound like everything
from a rumbling to a rasp to a jet engine taking off.
Some people are completely unaware of the fact that they snore, and it is
not until they are sharing a room with a partner or spouse (or sharing a
hotel room on a business trip) that they discover how loudly they snore.
Needless to say, if your snoring is loud enough to interrupt someone else's
sleep, it's worth trying to resolve the problem.
For a long time, snoring was considered harmless; today we know that
snoring can be a sign of upper respiratory resistance syndrome and
obstructive sleep apnea, both of which can be extremely dangerous.
Snoring is more common in men than in women; almost half of all men
snore while only about one-third of women do. Regardless of your
gender, however, snoring can be more than just a nuisance in your life
and can lead to or be a symptom of several other health complications.
What Causes Snoring?
As previously mentioned, the sound of snoring is created when the soft
tissues of the back of the throat—in the airway—vibrate because of a
narrowed or blocked passageway. During sleep, you are in a more
relaxed state. Every time you inhale, the air you breathe flows in through
your mouth or nose and across the soft palate (the fleshy part of the inside
of your mouth between the hard ridge and the back of your throat).
This soft palate area, including your
uvula, is capable of collapsing during
sleep. It is from here that the
breathing passageway becomes
blocked or narrowed enough to
disturb the air you’re breathing and
cause the vibrations. When the soft
palate collapses and narrows the
airway, your body works harder to
draw in breath. As the uvula and soft
palate are vibrated against the back of
the throat, the snoring sound is made.
If you still have your tonsils and/or
adenoids, those, too can vibrate and
add to the sound. The stronger the
vibrations are, the louder the snore.
Snoring only occurs during sleep, because when you are awake, the
muscles of your throat hold the soft tissues in place. It's only when you
sleep that these muscles relax enough to allow the tissue to collapse and
cause the obstruction.
Diagnosing Your Snoring Problem
There are many reasons why your airway may be narrowed enough, or
blocked enough, to cause you to snore. One of the main reasons for
snoring in kids, which can also be a cause in adults, is enlarged tonsils.
Other tissues in the nose, mouth, or throat can be enlarged as well,
particularly if you have a sore throat, cold, or flu. These temporary
swellings can cause snoring; sometimes tonsils are very large and cause
snoring. Consult with an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) specialist to
determine if tonsil removal is worth the risk.
Another cause of snoring can be having a stuffy nose. Whether this is a
short-term condition brought on by a cold or upper respiratory infection or
a long-term condition because of chronic sinus infections, snoring will
occur because of the effect on the tissues in the throat, which pull together
when it takes more effort to breathe. This narrows the passageway and
increases the likelihood of snoring.
A deviated septum can also cause
snoring, since it disrupts the airflow
through the nose. The septum is the
part of the cartilage inside the nose
that makes the nose into two nostrils.
The septum typically is found in the
center of the nose, equally dividing the
nostrils, but a deviated septum leans
to the right or to the left and partially
obstructs the nasal passage on the side to which it leans. In addition to
snoring, a deviated septum can cause issues with sinuses and breathing.
A lack of muscle tone in the throat can also be a cause of snoring,
because the lack of muscle tone makes it easier for the soft tissues to
collapse during sleep. Both age and poor physical fitness can attribute to
this problem.
Drinking alcohol or taking medicines that cause drowsiness can also result
in the likelihood of increased snoring. Alcohol affects the part of the brain
that controls breathing and can cause you to overly relax the muscles in
your throat and tongue, blocking air movement and restricting
passageways.
Weight and Snoring
Snoring can be vastly exacerbated by obesity. Fat deposits in the area of
the throat restrict the airway, put increased pressure on the airway, and
are virtually guaranteed to cause some snoring. Obesity is one of the
most common, correctable causes of snoring.
As your body gains more and more weight, fat deposits develop not only
in the throat but eventually in the nasal cavity as well. These obstructions
cause snoring to become more of a problem.
Obesity is becoming a buzzword in this country and is often blamed for
many different problems in the human body, but the problem with obesity
and snoring is the vicious cycle it creates.
Obesity is dangerous for your health—even life-threatening. The heavier
you are, the louder you'll snore. The problem is—and this is the vicious
cycle—obesity increases your snoring, and snoring makes it more difficult
for you to sleep peacefully and deeply. Lack of sleep—not spending
enough time in REM and deep sleep patterns—is associated with an
increase in weight. Basically, once the pattern of weight-related snoring
begins, it can actually continue to make itself worse.
Losing weight is an absolute necessity to break this vicious cycle.
Your Health and Snoring
Snoring is not, in and of itself, a health condition. However, people who
snore often have other risk factors. We've underlined the relationship
between obesity and snoring, but snoring is also associated with an
increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.
Pregnant women who begin snoring may be giving off signs of prenatal
high blood pressure and should be sure to have it monitored. Children
who snore may have issues with sinuses, tonsils, adenoids, or sleep
disturbances. Snoring in children has been correlated with lower
intelligence scores and increases in behavioral difficulties.
There are many things you can do to treat snoring problems. For some
people it requires a more drastic lifestyle change than others, but several
things you can do to help stop snoring include:
• Sleeping on your left side.
• Losing weight.
• Reducing your consumption of alcohol.
• Quitting or reducing the amount of cigarettes you smoke.
• Elevating your head while you sleep.
If you are not concerned about your own health because of your snoring,
you may need to worry about your spouse's health. Snoring can keep you
from sleeping as deeply and peacefully as you should, interrupting your
sleep cycles and reducing your oxygen. It can leave you feeling groggy
and unclear throughout the next day.
The effect on a spouse, roommate, or partner can often be worse. Not
only are they continually awakened by the sound of your snoring, but
studies have shown that the level of stress created on the spouse of a
snorer has a very negative impact on their health.
While most couples enjoy the prospect of cuddling up and going to sleep
together, when a person has a snoring partner it can be a nightmare.
According to research, more than 30% of couples are dramatically
affected by the snoring of one of the partners, resulting in anger, stress,
arguing, and even separate sleeping arrangements.
Because it's not the snoring itself that can cause health concerns but the
lack of sleep it causes, whatever health risks you might be exposed to by
being a snoring sleeper may also affect your spouse.
Taking whatever actions you can to improve your snoring will help you
both.
Treatments for Snoring
While there are several steps you can take on your own, as mentioned in
the previous section, such as losing weight, changing your sleep position,
reducing your use of alcohol and cigarettes, and elevating your head,
there are several other approaches for treating snoring.
If a stuffy nose is your main problem, whether from chronic sinus
infections or a temporary cold, a nasal decongestant can work wonders on
your ability to breathe freely and therefore snore less. Other options to
consider if you're dealing with congested nasal passages are nasal strips
that widen the passageways, nasal sprays, and a humidifier or steam
treatments may help.
There are special products on the market designed solely to reduce
snoring. They include:
• Nose strips. Nose strips can be
applied to your nose to help pull
your nostrils apart so that the airflow
through your nostrils is not blocked.
While this will work well if you have
a deviated septum or nasal congestion, it won't do much at all if you
snore because you are overweight, drink too much, or have a
collapsing soft palate.
• Snoring sprays. These sprays
market themselves as "stop snoring"
sprays. The likelihood of them
working well has not been
established.
• Snoring gum, snoring nose drops. Unfortunately,
there's no evidence that these commercial products
actually do much to help, either.
• Mouthpieces. While mouthpieces can save you a
fortune in dental work if you grind your teeth at night,
these specially-made, form-fitting pieces show no
evidence of helping prevent snoring.
• Anti-snoring pills. Again, this is more of a marketing
gimmick than a proven solution.
• Air filters. If your snoring is caused by nasal congestion,
and your nasal congestion is caused by allergies, air
filters can help indirectly by reducing the number of
allergens in the air…and on the topic of allergies, you
should address things like laundry soap, linens, and mites
and dust in your mattress and in your room, as well as
consider switching to hypoallergenic pillows.
• Mouth exercises. Studies have shown that mouth
exercises that tone the muscles in the throat and mouth,
relax the jaw, and firm the soft palate may help reduce
snoring.
If your snoring is serious or is a symptom of sleep apnea (a condition
characterized by temporary breathing interruptions during sleep), your
doctor may recommend that you undergo a sleep study (where you sleep
in a hospital lab so that the lab tech can monitor your breathing). They
may recommend that you be fitted with a breathing regulator that will help
ensure that you breathe throughout the night. If you have irregular
breathing or stop breathing for several seconds at a time throughout the
night, seek medical help!
If your snoring is not caused by sleep apnea, there are several different
exercises you can do to help improve the muscle tone and your breathing
passageways to help you snore less. Regardless of whether it's your soft
palate collapsing, your tongue obstructing your passageway as you sleep,
narrow or stuffy nasal passages, or a tense jaw, there are exercises you
can do to improve the condition.
The Jaw
The jaw is possibly the least obvious contributor to snoring, but if think
about it, the jaw is often a place where stress is exhibited. Clenched
teeth, a tense jaw, the little flexing of the muscle below the cheek…these
are all areas which, in sleep, can affect the flow of air.
There are several jaw exercises you can do that may improve your
snoring.
Reading aloud. Reading aloud is a great exercise for the jaw. Whether
you are reading to yourself or use it as an excuse to bond with your
children, it forces you to use muscles that may be rusty from lack of use
and the reading will tone the muscles as well. To make the exercise even
more effective (it's an exercise often used not for snoring but by speech
therapists), place something between your teeth that is about the size of a
jaw breaker. Hold onto the item with your teeth while you read or recite
something. Your muscles will get sore quickly, but you only have to do it
for a couple of minutes to tone the muscles.
Jaw stretches. The majority of people not only keep their mouths closed,
but tense their jaws and clench their molars together. It's a natural
reaction to stress, but it can cause tight, stressed muscles. To relax the
jaw, work on stretching it. Line up your jaw by placing your top and
bottom molars together, then drop your bottom jaw as far down as you
can. You should feel a light stretch, but it should actually feel relieving.
Amazingly enough, some of the exercises you'll be doing here to reduce
snoring may also have the benefit of reducing stress and tension related
headaches. If you're lucky, the exercises will actually relieve stress and
tension!
Chewing. We've talked about needing to reduce our caloric intake and
reduce weight to improve snoring, so chewing may seem counterintuitive.
However, it is a great jaw muscle relaxer and can be done anywhere—
with or without food or gum. The important part of the exercise is to make
sure your molars are moving together and apart and that your lips are
closed and touching.
The Throat
Improving the muscle tone of the throat is an absolute must for reducing
the amount of snoring you do. Any time the throat experiences some
blockage, snoring will occur, so the more toned the muscles of the throat
are, the less likely it will be that you'll experience these issues.
Yawning. Yawning is not a sign of being tired; it's a sign that our bodies
need more oxygen. Right before you yawn, your throat opens wider so
that you can intake a deeper breath. Whether you need to yawn or not,
you can practice yawning to improve the muscle tone in your throat. Open
your mouth wide, in a big "O" shape, and draw in a breath. It's likely this
will actually make you yawn, but it's not actual yawning that helps. Actually
yawning tightens your throat. Repeat the exercise six to eight times to
tone up your throat muscles and firm up your soft palate; this is an
exercise best done right before you go to sleep because it may help keep
your throat open through the night.
Singing exercises. The exercises that singers do to get their voices
ready also work to improve the tone of your throat. Practice with sounds
like "ah" and "ka" and "la" to exercise your throat muscles, tone your soft
palate and open your throat and air passageways. Repeat the sounds
8–10 times.
Gargling. Gargle with warm water, but do it loudly. Make as much noise
as you can while gargling, as this, too, will firm up the muscles in your
throat. Gargling also firms up and tones your soft palate and expands your
nasal passageways.
Laughing. Put in a good comedy, read something funny…but laugh.
Laughing not only firms and tones the throat and soft palate, but it also
does wonders for the abdominal muscles, so do it as often as you can!
The Tongue
Tongue exercises not only strengthen the tongue so that it is not as likely
to fall back into the throat, but working with the tongue also exercises the
throat and the jaw. Some people who end up having surgery to relieve
their snoring actually have to have a portion of their tongue removed. To
hopefully avoid that, try these exercises.
Curling your tongue. Genetically predisposed or not, curling your tongue
is a great strengthening exercise. Even if you cannot curl your tongue, the
action of attempting to curl it works equally as well as a strength exercise.
Tongue stretching. Wherever you choose to do this exercise, make sure
no one is going to think you're directing it at them. There are added
benefits to this exercise: Not only does it exercise the tongue as planned,
but it also exercises the inside of the throat, and as a double bonus it can
firm up an unsightly double-chin or flab on the outside of the throat. The
exercise is simple: Stick your tongue straight out and hold it there. Repeat
eight to ten times and do the exercise a couple of times a day.
Lick your lips. Stick out your tongue as in the previous exercise, but then
run it around your lips in both directions eight to ten times. Make sure you
have your tongue extended as far as possible when doing this exercise.
Since licking your lips repeatedly can cause them to chap, be sure to
apply some kind of lip balm when you are done exercising.
Touch your nose. Very few of us can actually touch the nose with the tip
of the tongue, but the effectiveness isn't in reaching the nose but in
reaching for it. Stretch your tongue up toward your nose and hold for a
few seconds. Repeat eight to ten times.
Touch your chin. Same exercise as above, only reach as low as
possible with your tongue toward the tip of your chin. Unless you're
related to Gene Simmons, it may not be possible to reach your chin, but
the exercise will work all the same.
Tongue push ups. Hold something firm against the tip of your tongue—a
spoon, a Popsicle stick or tongue depressor—and push against it with your
tongue, trying to push the item away from your mouth.
Snake. Flick your tongue in and out of your mouth rapidly, like a snake.
Then, flick it from side to side and around in circles rapidly.
