What Causes Snoring?
The sound of snoring is caused by vibrations of the soft palate and other tissue in the nose, mouth and throat. These vibrations are brought about as a result of a partial blockage somewhere in the airway. The blockage becomes worse when we are asleep as a result of the muscle tone becoming reduced meaning that the airway becomes smaller. When we are awake the muscle tone keeps the airway open preventing such vibrations which is why we do not snore when are awake.
There are a number of factors that can exacerbate a problem with snoring:
- Overeating and/or lack of exercise. This can cause a build up of fat around the neck causing the airway to be impaired during sleeping.
- Alcohol and sleeping pills – Alcohol and sleeping pills cause the muscles to relax more than usual during sleeping causing the oropharynx to collapse more readily causing snoring.
- Smoking – Causes irritation of the lining of the nasal cavity causing swelling and catarrh. This impairs breathing during sleeping.
- Sleeping position – While sleeping on your back, your tongue, your chin and any excess fatty tissue under your chin will probably relax back and squash your airway. Sleeping on your side prevents this.
- Allergies – Causes congestion in the nasal airway leading to sleep disordered breathing and snoring.
- Mouth breathing – Sleeping with your mouth open causes the inhaled air to hit the back of the throat ‘head on’ and can create enormous vibrations in the soft tissue.
- Tongue base snoring – If you are a ‘tongue base snorer’, this means that your tongue is dropping to the back of your throat causing an obstruction. This will prevent you from breathing properly and very often your bed partner will notice ‘pauses’ in your breathing. This is due to the tongue blocking the airway, preventing the air from passing into your lungs. In trying to get past the obstruction the air vibrates the tongue or the throat tissues, causing snoring.
What Snoring Remedies Are Available?
- Nasal dilators – these are plastic or metal strips that hold open your nostrils to help you breathe through your nose.
- Nasal strips – used to ease congestion.
- Chin straps – used to hold the mouth closed to encourage breathing through the nose.
- Snore guards – which block breathing through the mouth to encourage breathing through the nose.
- Snoring medication – there are various medications available to relieve snoring.
- Hypnotherapy – this can be administered by a trained by hypnotherapist or self-administered (there are CDs and mp3 downloads available to help you with this) Either way, this can be highly effective.
