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Is There a Cure for Snoring?
There are many jokes about the guy who snores so loudly he rattles the windows and wakes the dead, but the affliction is funny neither for snorers nor those who live with a snorer. Snoring can contribute to a variety of health problems and wreak havoc on relationships. While there is no actual cure for snoring, there are solutions that can help alleviate the problem.
Snoring is caused by narrowed air passages and an obstructed air flow. As the airways narrow, the soft tissues in the throat vibrate and create the noise that leads to sleepless nights. It is estimated that 50 percent of adults snore on a regular basis, and about half of those fall into the chronic category. The chronic snorer typically has poor muscle tone in his throat, or an excess of throat tissue. Snorers are sometimes said to have a malady known as "floppy throat."
Though there is no cure for snoring, one can take steps to reduce the frequency and severity of his snoring bouts. The first, quite simply, is to go on a diet. Losing weight often leads to less snoring, or at least a milder version of the dreaded slumbering sonata. One should also avoid eating large meals shortly before retiring. Drinking alcohol or taking tranquilizers at bedtime can also increase the possibility of snoring.
Smoking is almost always a cause of snoring. Though stopping smoking is not a cure for snoring, kicking the habit will allow the airways to function more freely. Spring-loaded nasal strips have also been found to aid snorers in greatly reducing their volume.
Hundreds of over-the-counter sprays and pills make the claim of being a cure for snoring, but at best they only temporarily mask the symptoms. Again, the root causes of snoring are obstructed airways and being overweight. Sleeping on one’s side can sometimes help, as can raising the head of one's bed or sleeping on a specially designed orthopedic pillow. A mask that fits over the mouth and jaw, designed to facilitate breathing, has been a benefit for some people. In a worst case scenario, surgery can be performed on the nasal passages.
There are health risks associated with snoring, the least of which is repeated elbow jabs to the ribs by one who is condemned to sleep next to a snorer. An individual who snores will likely wake up many times per night, whether he recalls it or not. Sleep deprivation can lead to irritability and a weakened immune system.
The most serious risk for a snorer arises from sleep apnea. Chronic snorers often experience long pauses between breaths, sometimes ten seconds or more. At such times the heart beats both harder and faster than normal in order to raise dropping blood pressure. Sleep apnea can be a contributing factor to heart attack and stroke.
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![Snoring can be a problem that affects both parties.]()
By: WavebreakmediaMicroSnoring can be a problem that affects both parties. -
![Losing weight may help an overweight individual stop snoring.]()
By: oocoskunLosing weight may help an overweight individual stop snoring.
Discussion Comments
My snoring comes and goes, but the main thing that seem to bring it on is exhaustion. I seem to rarely have complaints about snoring if I make sure to do some mild exercise before going to sleep, but being really beat and just dropping is apparently a surefire way to assure that whoever else is close by will get an earful.
Try to get some mild exercise before sleeping and not only will you sleep better and wake up more refreshed, it will also stop snoring in some people!
Well, I have a problem with snoring. I'm not the one who snores -- my boyfriend does. Sometimes when i sleep at his house, i can't really sleep.
The way he snores is unbearable and sometimes i lie awake for hours because of it. He takes a drink now and then and when he does, he snores even louder.
I have been with him for almost two years now and i thought by this time i would be used to it but I'm not. It still irritates the crap out of me. He knows that he snores. To be very honest, i do not snore at all!
He is a little chubby to but was very thin in the beginning, so it can't be his weight. Sometimes i go out of my mind for the way he snores. Everyone (both our families) are used to it. Why can't i be?
T. Rasmus
I think one way of reducing snoring is to consciously practice lowering the base of the tongue and the soft muscles attached to it.
It helps to increase the gap between the upper and lower soft muscles which widens the air passage, which in turns prevents the vibration of the muscles. A trial costs nothing in this case.
I don't believe or agree with any of these reasons because I have been snoring since I was a kid around eight years old. I wasn't over weight, I didn't drink, I didn't smoke.
How I found out at eight years old was I went on a bus trip and fell a sleep and when I woke up the whole bus started clapping. I was so embarrassed! They were making jokes saying that they wee glad that I finally woke up because I was sounding like 40- 18 wheelers going north. That was very devastating because they were all adults who said this to me.
Today I still continue to snore as far as I know and when and if I go on a bus trip and get ready to fall asleep, I'll ask the person next to me to wake me or shake me if they hear that I'm getting ready to start snoring.
I don't wake up in the night because of snoring, only if I have to go to the bathroom. My ex-roommate told me that she passed my room and I was getting it, calling the hogs. If this started when I was a kid, really what is my problem because I would hate it if I had a mate next to me in bed and they didn't snore and I was constantly distubing at night and they make a joke of it the next day.
Coming up, no one in my family ever said anything, maybe because they thought it was the norm because most people do snore. If I recall right my father snored, but a kid at eight years old, I guess it was chocked off as being, she must have had a hard day and was very tired, or in a deep sleep for me to snore like I'm calling the hogs.
By the way, I have lost 53 pounds as an adult, and I'm still working on losing an additional 53 so once I do, then what? Yes, I was overweight and I still do snore, I think!
If there is a solution to my problem I wish someone would tell me because as I read earlier, there is no cure, six in one hand and a half a dozen in the other, I can't win for losing. I don't want to be told about any gimmicks either. I just don't want to annoy other people with this problem when I feel like I want to go to sleep, regardless if it's day or night.
I recently did a "sleep study test" and was surprised at the results. I always slept well and was rested, but found that I suffered sleep apnea. Now I use a bi-pap at night and am more energetic during the day. Doctor told me that more people suffer from sleep apnea, than those that don't, and most have no clue about it!
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