Sometimes a few simple changes to your habits can be enough to help you stop snoring.
However, depending on the root cause of the problem, it may be necessary to use an appropriate anti-snoring mouthpiece or device. In very severe cases, a surgical procedure may be required.
If you want to stop snoring the first step is to try and discover what kind of snorer you are. For instance, are you a mouth snorer, or a nose snorer?
What Will I Learn?
Next, you need to find out if you snore every night, or only on certain nights of the week. If this is the case, what is different about those nights? Did you eat more than you normally do, had you been drinking alcohol, or was it a time when your allergies were particularly bad?
Sometimes snoring can be due to medical conditions, such a sleep apnea or a bent septum in the nose. In cases like these, a doctor’s advice will be necessary and, possibly, a surgical procedure.
The following list contains 17 things you can do to stop snoring. If you correctly identify the reason you snore and tackle the problem with the correct remedy, it could help you to stop snoring very quickly. Maybe even tonight.
1. Keep the Air Moist in Your Bedroom
Sleeping in a room where the air is too dry can cause the tissues in your mouth and at the back of your throat to dry out. This can irritate membranes and cause tissues to swell. Apart from causing you to wake up with a sore throat, it could also make you snore.
If your snoring is due to dry air, putting a humidifier in your bedroom may help.
2. Stop Smoking
Smoking can also dry out the membranes in your nose and throat, causing you to snore. Giving up smoking is never an easy thing to do but it offers untold health benefits and may even save your life.
If you need help to stop smoking, talk to your doctor about patches, gum, and other options that can help you to quit.
3. Treat Allergies
Allergies can cause nasal congestion that may force you to breathe through your mouth, making you more likely to snore. A good allergy treatment could make your day more bearable and help you to stop snoring at night.
4. Get More Exercise
Exercise doesn’t just work on the muscles in your arms and legs. In an indirect manner, it can tone-up your throat muscles too, making them firmer and less likely to vibrate. This could help reduce the volume of your snoring or even cause it to stop.
5. Try a Special Workout for Your Tongue
If you want to, you can try a special workout that targets your tongue. One way to do this is to place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth, apply pressure, and slowly stick your tongue out while forcing it over the tips of your teeth.
6. Lose Weight
Being overweight makes you more likely to snore. If you are overweight the first thing to do is look at your diet and find ways to reduce the amount of calories you eat per day. A doctor or nutritionist will be able to offer you further advice.
7. Don’t Overeat Before Going to Bed
Going to bed on a full stomach can make you more likely to snore. There’s a simple answer: don’t do it.
8. Drink More Water
Up to 60% of the human body is water. You need to keep hydrated by drinking around 3 liters of water per day. Not doing so makes the tissues in your throat and mouth more prone to drying out.
Inadequate hydration can also affect your health in numerous other undesirable ways.
9. Limit or Avoid Alcohol
Forget all thoughts of a nightcap and try to avoid drinking alcohol at night. If you do drink it, try to do so at least two hours before going to bed. Alcohol relaxes the throat muscles, making you more likely to snore.
10. Change Your Sleeping Position
Did you know sleeping on your back makes you more likely to snore? It’s actually quite a well-known fact. Many years ago, women used to sew a tennis ball onto the back of their husbands’ nightshirts to force them to adopt a different sleeping position.
Even if a tennis ball hasn’t got your back, sleeping on your side can be a good way to stop snoring.
11. Elevate the Head of Your Bed
Some people find raising the head of their bed by three or four inches stops them from snoring. The slight elevation in sleeping posture can help keep airways open.
12. Use Nasal Strips or Dilators
If you are a nose snorer, opening up your nostrils and nasal passages may be a good solution. One way to do this is to stick nasal strips to the outside of your nose. The other option is to use nasal dilators that push open the nostrils from the inside.
13. Ensure Your Nasal Passages are Clear
Nasal congestion is a common cause of snoring. Some people tackle nasal congestion by using a decongestant before going to bed. Another option is to use a neti pot.
Neti pots are a special type of plastic bottle that allows you to force warm water up one nostril until it comes out of the other. There’s a learning curve involved but neti pots can be very good for keeping your nasal passages clear.
14. Problem Septum? Correct It!
The septum is a thin wall that sits between the nostrils. Some people are born with a septum that is not correctly aligned. Such misalignment may interfere with airflow, leading to snoring. It’s possible to straighten a bent septum by surgery.
15. Use an Anti-Snoring Device
Many people use anti-snoring devices with great success. MADs are a popular option. They sit between the teeth and use precise positioning to force the lower jaw forward. This opens up the airway at the back of the throat.
Tongue stabilizing devices (TSDs) are also popular. TSDs open up the airway by pulling the tongue forward.
16. Use a CPAP Machine
CPAP machines keep your airways open pressurizing them. The machine contains an air pump that provides the necessary pressurization by pumping air into a face mask you wear during sleep.
17. Laser-Assisted Uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP)
LAUP is a surgical procedure involving a laser. The surgeon uses the laser to shorten the uvula that hangs at the back of the throat. The procedure also involves making cuts to the palate. When the cuts heal they stiffen the surrounding tissue making it less likely to vibrate.
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