Do you regularly wake your partner up in the middle of the night due to snoring? Or is it the other way around?
We understand how it feels when you unwittingly make someone’s life miserable. Snoring is entirely involuntary. You or your partner/roommate has no control over it. But still, you cannot dismiss the negative impact it has over other people. Loud snoring can be detrimental to the quality of sleep of other people sleeping in the same room.
This habit can also prevent you from making friends while on the road. Suppose you have to spend a week abroad with a bunch of other travelers. If you were to share a room with these people, sooner or later, they will start hating your guts.
Your snoring will affect the quality of their sleep, preventing them from enjoying their trip or a vacation. This is just one hypothetical scenario.
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What Causes a Person to Start Snoring
Snoring is an annoying low-pitched sound made by the vibration of soft tissues (uvula and soft palate to be specific) in the back of the throat and mouth. The tissue vibrates due to the blockage of air movement during breathing.
It is natural for the soft tissues and the muscles in the back of the throat to relax during sleep. But in some cases, they relax more than they should — partially blocking the airway. Although in some cases, people snore without a specific reason, several factors can trigger this activity.
The following conditions can cause a person to start snoring:
1) Alcohol Consumption
Alcohol is known to relax the muscles/tissues and other parts of the body. Hence, it is no surprise that people snore a lot when drunk. The muscle relaxant properties of alcohol can make it difficult for you to control and feel the area within your throat.
When you sleep drunk, the muscles present in the back of your throat do not remain stationary — they change positions. Keep in mind that alcohol consumption can only make you snore while you are still drunk — not otherwise.
2) Nasal Problems
Snoring can also occur due to nasal problems like congestion, throat infection, cold, flu, etc. During a cold, the nasal tissue swells obstructing the airway between the nostrils and lungs. In such a scenario, you are forced to breathe through your mouth. The noise generated by mouth breathing sounds a lot similar to the one made by snoring. Also, in some cases, mouth breathing can lead to actual snoring.
3) Sleeping Position
According to a report by VeryWellHealth, people who sleep on their backs are predisposed to snoring. Sleeping on your back also leads to other sleep disorders like sleep apnea, although this is less likely in a healthy and fit individual.
When an obese person sleeps on his/her back, the combined weight of the head, neck, and shoulder can collapse the airway, entirely. Also, sleeping on the back is the most common and natural sleeping position, so to prevent snoring, you have to sleep sideways or on your belly. This makes life even harder for those who snore.
4) Sleep Apnea
As we discussed in the previous section, sleep apnea is one of the most destructive sleep disorders. There are more than 22 million people in the United States who suffer from this condition. Reports also suggest that most people who snore do not understand the difference between a common snore and the one caused by sleep apnea; hence, they do not consult a doctor.
How to Stop Snoring Immediately
This section is for you if you are desperate to stop snoring and want a quick-fix. We would like to tell you that there are some excellent magic pill solutions to the problem of snoring, but they may not work for all. Anyways, there is no harm in trying those. In this section, we are going to share one such solution.
To begin with this quick-fix remedy for snoring, you should be prepared to invest a few bucks (about $10) in below-the-knee compression stockings or socks. It sounds strange, doesn’t it? It seemed odd to us, too, until we came across a study by a Sleep Research Laboratory based in Toronto.
The Canadian study concluded that wearing compression stockings or socks can prevent fluid flow from the legs to the neck region, which in turn can stop you from snoring; almost immediately. 50 sleep apneic men took part in this two-week experiment.
After two weeks, they concluded that wearing compression stockings or socks can halve the rate of sleep disruption during the night. There have been several reports suggesting this technique to be the best remedy to stop snoring–whether your snoring is due to sleep apnea or not.
How to Stop Someone from Snoring
According to a recent study, 40 percent of adult men and 24 percent of adult women are habitual snorers. Ordinarily, men start snoring after the age of 70. So, it is clear that men are more likely to snore than women. If you are reading this post and want your partner to stop snoring, you are more likely to be a woman.
Irrespective of your gender, it is possible to stop someone (your partner/roommate) from snoring without letting it affect your relationship. The first step in getting someone to stop snoring is to make them aware of their condition. It’s possible that your partner/roommate has acquired this condition recently and is not aware of it.
Moreover, snoring can also be life-threatening in some cases. It can lead to a stroke or a heart attack. Inform them about the adverse effects of snoring. Also, tell them how your health is getting affected due to their habit. If they care about you, they will cooperate and will want to do something about it.
Lifestyle Changes to Help You Stop Snoring
Even if the root cause of your snoring habit remains unknown or genetic factors are making you snore at night, you can still stop snoring or lessen the extent of it. All you have to do is prevent the narrowing of the airway so that the air can flow freely.
1) Strengthen Your Throat Muscles
The most effective way to stop snoring is to strengthen the soft tissue and muscles around your mouth, neck, and nose. Like other muscles in your body, throat muscles can also be strengthened with resistance training.
Here is what you can do:
- place the tip of your tongue at the back of your front teeth
- put outward pressure for a few seconds
- then curl the tongue in the backward direction as if you are about to swallow your tongue.
2) Stop Consuming Alcohol
To make your snoring habit go away, you have to stop consuming alcoholic drinks. Alcohol relaxes the muscles surrounding your throat, making you lose control of them. It also cuts the natural feedback system between your respiratory system and brain. For a chronic snorer, consuming large quantities of alcohol can turn out to be dangerous.
3) Quit Smoking
There is no doubt that your life would be better without smoking cigarettes. Whether you snore or not, the adverse effects of nicotine present in tobacco can degrade the quality of your life to an extent you can’t imagine. But if you do snore at night, you should know that smoking will let this condition aggravate further, and you will have a chance of developing Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
Studies suggest that OSA can increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases like arrhythmia, coronary artery disease, heart attack, and Marfan syndrome.
The Best Medical Treatment for Snoring
If the above-mentioned lifestyle changes do not have any positive impact on your condition, you should consider getting yourself treated medically. Don’t worry; you don’t have to pop side-effects riddled pills before going to bed.
We suggest you evaluate the bed accessories you use currently. Notably, the pillow you rest your head on can have a significant impact on the airflow through the windpipe. Instead of using an essential fluffy pillow (made of foam and fiber), consider getting yourself an orthopedic or an anti-snore pillow. This pillow is designed to resurrect the position of your body while you sleep.
An orthopedic pillow is made from a high-density material known as memory foam. Memory foam pillows are known to reshape and remold themselves based on the heat and pressure that your body emits.
Moreover, it also helps the bodyweight stay evenly distributed. Your head will remain elevated throughout the night; it won’t slump or sink into it. Lastly, if you prefer sleeping on an all-natural organic material, we recommend you get yourself a Buckwheat pillow.
Conclusion
Secondly, people usually dismiss this condition by falsely assuming as something integral to their being. But like every other condition, snoring can also be treated.
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