Snoring affects many people across all genders and ages. When sleeping, the muscles in your upper mouth loosen and are close enough to partially block the airway. The disruption in the airway makes the throat tissues vibrate as you breathe, causing an unpleasant sound. Changing your lifestyle or visiting a doctor can help you with snoring treatment.
Obesity, chronic nasal congestion, alcohol consumption, and obstructive sleep apnea are among the underlying risk factors for snoring. In some cases, anatomical structural problems in your mouth, nose, or throat can cause snoring.
Here are some tips to remedy snoring:
Home Remedies and Lifestyle Change
Some lifestyle habits like alcohol intake before bed, back sleeping positions, and lack of enough sleep can make a person snore.
Here are lifestyle changes that can help reduce or stop a person’s snoring:
Maintain a Moderate Weight
Overweight people are likely to have extra tissues accumulating in the throat. The excess tissues can collapse when sleeping, reducing the internal diameter of the throat and causing snoring. Regular exercise, nutritious foods, intermittent fasting, and controlled calorie intake can help you reduce or maintain a healthy weight.
Change Sleeping Position
The tongue falls backward into your throat when lying on your back, narrowing the airway. Sleeping on your side helps you keep your airways open, allowing air to flow smoothly.
Quit Smoking
Smoke from cigars, cigarettes, and pipe tobacco causes irritation and inflammation of the upper airways. The tissue’s inflammation leads to post-nasal drips that narrow your throat, making you snore. Quitting or at least reducing smoking can help you snore less frequently.
Reduce or Avoid Alcohol and Sedative Intake
Alcohol and sedative substances can result in excessive relaxation of muscles such as throat tissues, making you snore while sleeping. Limiting or avoiding the use of alcoholic beverages can help you fight your snoring problems.
Reduce Nasal Congestion
Stuffy or clogged airways can cause snoring. Using decongestants such as nasal strips or dilators helps lift nasal passages and keep your nose open while you sleep. The open nose increases the space in the nasal passage, making it easy to breathe, and can prevent or stop snoring.
Medical Treatment for Snoring
Consulting a doctor can help you combat snoring problems. Here is an overview of medical treatments used to cure snoring:
Treat Chronic Allergies
Allergies can lead to congestion and blockage of airways. Blocked or clogged airways reduce the airflow through the nose, causing you to snore whenever you breathe. Seeking treatment or a doctor’s prescription can help you improve your breathing condition.
Get a Surgery
A person with persistent snoring can choose surgery treatment if the other options are ineffective. One of the surgical procedures is radiofrequency ablation (RFA), known as somnoplasty.
RFA treatment uses radiowaves to shrink excess tissue on the soft palate. Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty(LAUP) are other surgical interventions used. The former comprises the removal of the uvula, soft palate, and tonsils, while the latter entails using a laser to decrease the size of the uvula and the soft palate.
These techniques can help to widen the airway, allowing air to move more easily through the throat and thus reducing snoring.
The Pillar procedure is another surgical procedure where tiny palatal implants are inserted into the soft palate. Palatal implants stiffen, reduce the palates’ vibration, and reduce or stop snoring.
Snoring can cause difficulties in breathing, frequent need to urinate, and insomnia. If you have the following signs and symptoms, contact a doctor:
- Sleeping excessively during the day
- Pausing during breathing
- Gasping for air while asleep
- Experiencing Headaches in the morning and congestion
Seek Snoring Treatment
Snoring disrupts sleep and increases your risk of early death due to stroke, heart disease, and other health problems. Visiting a doctor for a snoring treatment and practicing simple home remedies can help fight the condition.