Snoring No Laughing Matter

“Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.” While that might be somewhat funny, a 2001 study done by the American College of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons on 4900 couples found that 80% ended up sleeping in separate beds because one of them snored. While half of us snore at least occasionally, regular snoring can cause great distress for the bed partners of snorers. Interrupted sleep creates fatigue and irritability, which leads to poor performance at work, bad tempers at home, another night of bad sleep – a downward cycle which can erode even the best of relationships.

If you’re a quiet sleeper, air passes from your nose and throat to your lungs silently and unhindered. Snoring occurs when there is an obstruction to the free flow of air through the mouth and nose, especially through the collapsible part of the airway where the tongue and upper throat meet the soft palate and uvula. The walls of the throat vibrate during breathing; when the vibration bumps these structures into each other, you get snore noises.

Obstruction may be due to a blocked nose (e.g. from allergies, sinus infection, deviated septum, or nasal polyps), or to the base of the tongue restricting the breath. Poor muscle tone in the throat and tongue can cause the tongue to fall backward into the airway or the throat muscles to draw in from the sides into the airway; this muscle relaxation can result from sleep, alcohol, some sleeping pills, or just normal aging. Bulky throat tissue from being overweight, or in children with large tonsils and adenoids, is also an issue. Having a long soft palate or a long uvula (the dangling tissue in back of the mouth) can narrow the opening from the nose to the throat.

Some factors that can increase snoring are: sleeping on your back, increased body weight, alcohol consumption, tobacco consumption, eating heavy meals late in the evening, and sleeping tablets or mood-altering drugs.

There are more than 300 devices on the market to help prevent snoring, such as pillows that keep a person lying on their side, straps to shut the jaw, and devices that pull the lower jaw forward. There are half a dozen surgical procedures available to correct underlying anatomical problems that obstruct the airway.

Before taking drastic measures, try the following measures. Establish regular sleeping patterns and avoid getting overtired. Sleep on your side. Tilt the head of your bed up four inches. Eat a well-balanced diet designed to keep your weight within a healthy range for your height, age, and body type. If you're overweight, begin an exercise program to tone muscles and lose body fat. Avoid heavy meals within three hours of going to bed, alcoholic drinks three hours before bedtime, and sedatives and antihistamines before bedtime. Dairy foods (milk, butter, cheese, cream and ice cream are the worst offenders) increase the production of mucous, which can lead to more severe snoring; limit or eliminate these foods two hours prior to bedtime.

Breathing through your mouth at night, rather than your nose, dries out your mouth and contributes to a sore or dry throat, both of which can result in loud snoring. A throat spray with natural oils that lubricates the back of your throat will dampen or even eliminate the sound of the vibrations.

Snoring is often a symptom of sleep apnea, a potentially life-threatening sleep disorder (and subject of next week’s article). There's some evidence that snoring is not only a symptom of apnea, but can eventually cause it.

Snoring means obstructed breathing, and it’s not funny, for your health or your relationship.

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