Try These Expert Remedies to Cure Snoring

Are you among those 45% of adults who struggle with snoring while sleeping? If so, you’re not alone. Snoring occurs when air flows through a person’s throat, instead of the windpipe, when you breathe during sleep. This causes your throat tissues to vibrate and lead to an irritating snoring sound.

Due to this problem, you might be made fun of during family gatherings or among friends. This is because snoring not only disrupts your sleep but also bothers your partner. Besides, snoring could also be a sign of some serious medical conditions, such as obesity, obstructive sleep apnoea (or blocked airways, sleep deprivation, etc.

But before we discuss the cure for snoring, let’s discuss what snoring is.

What is Snoring?

Snoring is the sound caused by vibration of the throat’s soft tissues situated in the upper airway (including palate, tongue base, uvula and nasopharynx) and often occurs when you breathe in while sleeping.

When people are aware, they have the proper muscle tone for keeping the airway open. However, when they sleep, the muscle tone may be lost (leading to throat, tongue and mouth’s roof relaxation) and causes loose throat tissues to sag while narrowing the airways. Due to this reduced breathing space, the soft tissue within the air passages begins to vibrate and causes snoring.

What are Common Causes of Snoring?

Here are some common causes that lead to snoring:

• Snoring can be inherited in some cases or may occur due to any nasal deformity.
• Being overweight and excessive smoking and alcohol consumption may cause snoring.
• A blocked nose because of a twisted septum may also lead to snoring.
• Nasal congestion because of polyps and allergies may cause loud slumber.
• The increasing size of tonsils may impact snoring.
• Cross-bite can cause snoring.
• A small jaw with a squashed tongue that may fall backwards while sleeping can also cause snoring.
• Unusually longer uvula, the hanging piece of flesh from your mouth’s rear part of the soft palate, can also cause snoring.
• Some other reasons that lead to snoring are abnormal craniofacial anatomy, increasing age, narrow airway that often collapses and in-taking sedating medications.

How to Cure Snoring?

Wondering how to cure snoring? Well, according to the type of snoring and how bad your snoring issue is, you can try some of these remedies to get rid of snoring:

1. Make Certain Lifestyle Changes

The very first step to fix snoring is by making some easy lifestyle changes. If you are obese or often smoke and drink, your snoring problem can be quite big. So, it’s time to make some healthy lifestyle changes to treat snoring. You can start with opting for a weight loss plan and further consider cutting down or quitting cigarettes and alcohol consumption. With these positive lifestyle changes, you can greatly reduce the issue of snoring. Also, avoid sedative medications, as these medicines may lead to respiratory depression and increase the problem of snoring.

2. Change your Current Sleeping Position

If you sleep on your back, you are likely to snore more because sleeping on your back increases these issues. So, you must try to sleep on your side to reduce your snoring level. However, if you are not able to change your sleep position, you can try some anti-snoring t-shirts with a cushioned inflatable insert that prevents you from rolling over during sleep.

3. Elevate Level of Your Head While Sleeping

Another impactful way to cure snoring is by elevating your head level while sleeping. Bed adjustments and using elevated pillows can help you reduce the problem of snoring. This is because the elevated head of your bed alleviates gravity’s effect and improves respiratory function at night.

4. Use Nasal Dilator or Nasal Strips

Some people face the problem of collapsed nostrils when trying to breathe through the nose. You can do the following test to find this out:

• Look into a mirror while taking in a deep breath.
• Quickly sniff in with closed mouth.
• If your nostrils collapse, you can try using a nasal dilator for relief.

A nasal dilator is a device made of a springy and small plastic piece, which helps in holding nostrils open to make breathing easier. If you don’t want to wear something within your nose, you can also use nasal strips for alleviating snoring. The nasal strips are like sticky plasters that you attach to your nose for opening up your nostrils. Both these objects are great for reducing snoring.

5. Alleviate Nasal Allergies/Polyps

If you suffer from a blocked nose, your mouth is likely to stay open and you may snore more often. If allergies or polyps are the cause of your blocked nose, you can treat the issue with a combination of nasal steroid sprays, along with certain non-sedating antihistamines. You can get these medications over the counter at any pharmacy or get them on prescription from a physician.

6. Change Your Pillows

Even allergens in your pillows in your bedroom can lead to the snoring problem. If you have not dusted your overhead ceiling or changed your pillow in a long time, you need to do it now.

This is because dust mites may easily accumulate in pillows and lead to various allergic reactions, causing snoring. Also, don’t allow pets to sleep on your bed, as animal dander may also irritate your nose and cause snoring.

If you feel good in the daytime and get an irritated nose at night, these issues might be contributing to your snoring problem. Therefore, you need to air fluff your pillows every few weeks and often replace them every six months to get rid of allergens and dust mites.

7. Opt for Sleep Hygiene

Bad sleep habits can also have a similar effect to that of drinking alcohol. If you work for long hours without getting proper sleep, you can often feel overtired all the time. And, when you sleep deep after feeling extremely tired, the muscles become floppier and cause snoring. So, you must get a proper night’s sleep every day to get rid of snoring.

Snoring can disturb your sleep, as well as your partner. Meanwhile, it can indicate some serious medical conditions. Seeing your doctor and indulging in any of the aforementioned treatment options can cure snoringand control your sleep habits.

Also Read- Snoring: Causes Treatment and When to Seek Medical Help