Do Nose Clips for Snoring Work?

Nose clips are just one of several options snorers have available to them. How good are nose clips for snoring though?

Are Nose Clips Effective for Snoring?

Snoring is a problem that affects millions of people all over the world and, although the way snorers are portrayed in comedy sketches is amusing, there’s nothing funny about being kept awake at night.

Regardless of whether it’s your own snoring keeping you awake or that of a partner, it can have a negative impact on your life.

When you don’t get enough quality sleep, it can make you feel tired all day. It can also ruin your ability to concentrate on simple tasks at home or at work.

The prevalence of snoring has resulted in an ever-growing demand for anti-snoring aids.

Nose clips are just one of several options snorers have available to them. How good are nose clips for snoring, though, and do they even work?

The truth is, nose clips for snoring are not one of the more popular options. Many people who try them say their snoring was worse with the clip than it was without it. 

This article provides a brief insight into anti-snoring nose clips. After you have read it, you will know how the clips are meant to work. You will also know where the idea goes drastically wrong.

Most good anti-snoring devices help you to breathe through the nose instead of the mouth. 

What are Nose Clips for Snoring?

When some people discover it’s possible to buy a nose clip for snoring, they think of the kind of clips people use for swimming.

That’s a big error. Swimming nose clips and snoring nose clips are not the same.

The kind of clips swimmers wear, pinch the nostrils shut. Wearing a clip like that at night would probably make your snoring worse. It would likely be pretty uncomfortable as well.

If the nostrils are pinched shut it’s not possible to breathe through the nose. That forces you to breathe through the mouth.

Apart from making you snore, breathing through the mouth during sleep may also cause you wake up with a sore throat.

Most good anti-snoring devices help you to breathe through the nose instead of the mouth. 

Nose clips for snoring don’t pinch the nostrils. They sit inside them. The clips generally resemble a u-shaped piece of plastic and have magnets on the two tips. For that reason, they are sometimes called magnetic nose clips.

This makes nasal breathing easier, making you less likely to breathe through the mouth.

Nose Clips for Snoring Vs. Internal Dilators

It’s important not to confuse internal nasal dilators with snoring nose clips.

Internal nasal dilators tend to be more lightweight than nose clips. They usually feel more comfortable inside the nose as well. Mute Snoring by Rhinomed is a good example of a internal nasal dilator.

Most brands of nasal dilators have two open cones that sit within the nostrils and force them open.

This makes nasal breathing easier, making you less likely to breathe through the mouth.

A few brands have little paddle-like devices instead (such as Venyn Snore Guard). These open up the nostrils in a similar way to the cone-type devices. 

Depending on the quality of the device, internal nasal dilators can be made from plastic or silicone. The same is true for the magnetic nose clips that aim to control snoring.

However, the plastic or silicone “clip” section of an anti-snoring nose clip is a lot thicker than the material used for an internal dilator. This makes the clip more liable to inhibit nasal breathing than improve it.

The two bulbous sections at the end of the clip, where the magnets are stored, can further restrict airflow in the nostrils. It’s no wonder so many people say using a device like this made their snoring worse.

A lot of people complain magnetic nose clips for snoring feel uncomfortable. This is no surprise either.

Unlike nasal dilators, that push the nostrils open, magnetic clips pinch together and grip the septum in the middle of the nose.

So, why the magnets? They allegedly provide “magnetic therapy.” There is no logical reason why placing magnets in your nostrils would offer any benefits at all. Nor is there any proof that magnet nose clips work.

Snoring Nose Clips: The Pros and Cons

One of the main things this type of device has going for it is the price. It’s possible to buy a cheap magnetic nose clip for just a few dollars.

Unfortunately, most people who buy this type of clip find it doesn’t work for them so, even if you pay a couple of dollars, you won’t get good value for money.

PROS

• Cheap to buy
• Usually durable and long-lasting

CONS

• No proof magnetic therapy works for snoring
• Liable to interfere with nasal breathing (making you more likely to snore)
• Uncomfortable to wear
• Many people complain they do not work

Snoring Nose Clips – The Bottom Line

Magnetic nose clips are one of many different types of options available to people who need help to stop snoring immediately.

Unfortunately, magnetic therapy is pseudoscience. There is no scientific proof to support its value in any area, least of all snoring.

Snoring happens in response to air turbulence at the back of the throat. Placing the septum in a weak magnetic field will not prevent this turbulence.

In fact, by placing such a bulky obstacle in the nostrils, the clip is more likely to make snoring worse.

One snorer who had been using a magnetic nose clip compared it to a “bull ring for the nose.” That’s a very good analogy and it’s not hard to understand why so many people find this type of device uncomfortable to wear.

Alternative anti-snoring mouth pieces , such as MADs TSDs, and internal nasal dilators aim to tackle the root cause of snoring by reducing airway obstruction at the back of the throat.

MADs and TSDs improve airflow by pulling the tongue forward. Internal nasal dilators improve nose breathing, thereby preventing one of the main factors that contribute to snoring—sleeping with the mouth open.

Nasal strips do a similar thing and snoring chinstraps prevent mouth breathing by applying pressure underneath the jaw.

It’s easy to see the science behind such devices. Magnetic nose clips may be cheap but there is no science. The only thing they have going for them is the price.