Snoring – Its Causes and Complications

Most of us know that snoring is the harsh, raspy sound that occurs when air that is inhaled and exhaled flows past relaxed throat muscles and causes the tissues to vibrate.  Almost everybody snores at some point.  But, for many individuals, snoring can be a chronic problem.  In some cases, there could be an underlying health condition that triggers a person’s snoring.  More importantly, snoring can disrupt your partner’s or spouse’s sleep and put a strain on your relationship. Couples dealing with snoring and sleep apnea have a higher divorce rate, as per multiple studies. 

How Can You Tell if You’re Snoring While You Sleep?

Unless someone complains about it or mentions your snoring, you probably don’t know that you’re doing it.  This is one of the reasons that sleep apnea goes undiagnosed, unless the bed partner complaints about it, you won’t even know.  If you sleep by yourself, setting up a recording device will be helpful in determining if you snore.  Most smartphones have some type of recording app that you can download.  It’s a good idea to record yourself over several nights as snoring may not be every night event.  Just keep in mind that apps are not a tool for diagnosing sleep apnea.

If being able to record yourself is not a possibility, watch for other red flags or warning signs that are indicative of disrupted or interrupted sleep attributed to snoring such as:

• daytime drowsiness or sleepiness
• difficulty paying attention and concentrating
• elevated blood pressure
• frequent wakefulness
• morning headaches
• not getting enough deep, restorative sleep
• relationship problems
• waking up with a sore throat

Snoring occasionally is normal and isn’t considered a serious.  It’s mostly a nuisance for the individual sleeping with you.  However, if you’re a chronic or long-term snorer, you’re not only disrupting your partner’s or spouse’s sleep patterns, you’re not getting the quality of sleep that you need either.

What Causes Us to Snore?

There are a number of different factors that can cause you to snore.  Some individuals are more prone to snoring than others due to the shape and size of their neck muscles and surrounding tissues.  In other individuals, snoring is attributed to excess tissue relaxation or a narrowing of their airways.  Some of the common causes of snoring are:

• alcohol consumption
• deviated septum
• large tonsils
• nasal congestion
• nasal polyps
• obesity
• poor throat and tongue muscle tone
• pregnancy
• sedatives
• set-back or small jaw bone
• sleeping position
• soft palate

Furthermore, there are certain risk factors that may be contributing to a person’s snoring including being male, being overweight, having a family history of snoring, having a narrow airway, or having a structural defect in your airway or nose.  Although snoring can affect individuals in all age groups, including children, the problem is commonly found among older individuals and among males more than females.

4 Different Kinds of Snoring

If you’ve ever listened to someone when they snore while sleeping, you might be wondering why some individuals sound different from others.  This is because there are different kinds of snoring.  All snoring indicates that your body is unable to breathe as smoothly as it should.  However, with the 4 different kinds of snoring listed below, the name or type implies what causes it:

• Mouth-based snoring – occurs when you breathe through your mouth while sleeping rather than your nose.  This type of snoring is often caused by blocked nasal passages, enlarged tonsils, or weak palate tissue. 

• Nose-based snoring – results from blocked nostrils caused by allergies, the common cold, a deviated septum, the flu, prescription medications, or smoking.  So if your nose feels stuffy at night, it’s important to determine why. Seasonal allergies contribute to it. Taking anti-histamines can help. 

• Throat-based snoring – this type of snoring is not only the loudest, it’s usually seen as the most dangerous because it’s a strong indicator of sleep apnea.  With this sleeping disorder, an obstruction in the airway causes you to stop breathing. Sudden episodes of choking and gasping for breath can lead to disrupted sleep. 

• Tongue-based snoring – caused when the tongue gets too relaxed and blocks the airway during sleep.  This typically occurs when you consume alcohol, have an excess of fatty neck tissue, sleep on your back, or take certain medications.

If you suspect that you are frequently snoring due to one of the above reasons, it’s probably a good idea to speak with your family physician. Additionally, you can try modifying your lifestyle, and try losing weight. The extra fat around the throat is compressed when you lay down, and the loose tissue inside the throat starts to vibrate as you inhale and exhale. That leads to snoring. That is why people that sleep on their sides tend to snore less than those that sleep on their back. Doctors recommend that sleeping on your sides helps to keep the airways open and ensures better sleep. 

Snoring Statistics to be Aware of

Since the following statistics show that snoring is a fairly common sleep problem, we felt it was important to share them with you:

• 40% of men and 24% of women are considered habitual snorers
• 45% of people snore occasionally while 25% snore regularly
• 56% of partners who sleep with a snorer claim that it’s having an adverse effect on their health and well-being
• approximately 37 million Americans are habitual snorers
• if you snore habitually, you are 5 times more likely to have heart disease
• snoring is the #3 cause of US divorces

Asonor Anti-snoring Solution can provide immediate relief from snoring and has been clinically tested and proven to be effective in 75% of the individuals who participated in our research.  For more information about our product e-mail us or visit our website. Our business representatives are online for your queries and questions.