Solutions for a Silent Night: 5 Effective Snoring Remedies
You need snoring remedies when snoring disrupts not only the snorer’s own rest but also the sleep of anyone within earshot. The noisy and abrasive sounds make it difficult to achieve sound slumber. Fortunately, there are solutions that can help reduce or even eliminate snoring altogether. By identifying the root cause and trying tailored remedies, snorers can regain peaceful and quiet sleep.
1. Experiment with Ideal Sleep Positions
Sometimes simple adjustments in sleep position can help stop noisy snoring. The effects of gravity on throat tissue can lead to airway obstruction. For example, sleeping on the back allows the tongue to fall backward into the airway, narrowing breathing passages. The tissues vibrate more intensely in response.
Try side sleeping instead to prevent gravity from straining your throat muscles during the night. Stomach sleeping also reduces snoring but may strain the neck and back. If turning during sleep is an issue, special devices like position trainers gently force side snoozing. Wedge pillows also prop snorers on their side or at an incline to prevent the throat tissue from collapsing into the airway.
2. Always Clear Congestion for Quieter Sleep
When nasal congestion or even sinus issues block airflow through the nose, individuals tend to breathe more heavily through their mouth instead. This stressful mouth breathing strains throat tissue by forcing rapid bursts of air through an already narrowed space. Any treatments that help reduce mucus secretions and open up nasal breathing passages should in turn help lessen vibration and turbulence in the throat.
Allergy medicine, nasal strips, nasal sprays, humidifiers, and saline nasal solutions can all successfully tackle congestion issues that contribute to snoring problems. Avoiding dust mites, mold spores, pet dander and other environmental irritants allows for less histamine response as well.
3. Devices to Open Constricted Airways
Sometimes snoring relates more to anatomically narrow airways and passageways. In these cases, directly opening and stabilizing the airways provides relief by reducing tissue strain and vibration.
Chin straps are a simple solution that gently hold the jaw forward to open the throat and airway. Custom-fitted oral appliances made by dentists are similar to mouth guards and also prevent the tongue from restricting airflow. More invasive options like Pillar implants or somnoplasty use heat or soft palate implants to structurally reinforce and stimulate throat muscle tone to prevent collapse during sleep.
4. Mouth Taping Trick for Silence
Another remedy involves directly preventing mouth breathing during sleep. Mouth breathing is far more turbulent and abrasive on the throat anatomy, encouraging snoring sounds. So, keeping the lips sealed and breathing nasally can work wonders.
Special hypoallergenic medical tape can be placed vertically over the closed lips before bedtime. This gentle technique forces exclusive nasal breathing while also holding upper and lower jaws together in an optimal position. However, nostrils must remain clear for this trick to work properly without interfering with airflow. Use this device to keep your mouth closed while sleeping.
5. Evaluate Serious Health Conditions
While the above remedies address more common mild snoring disturbances, those with legitimate health conditions like sleep apnea require special medical diagnosis and treatment. This disorder’s repetitive lapses in breathing can drop oxygen levels and trigger other system damage if left untreated. Symptoms like chronic daytime drowsiness, headaches upon waking, mood changes, or hypertension should prompt further screening.
Consult a doctor for an evaluation or overnight sleep study to analyze breathing quality, oxygen levels, snoring patterns and related effects. If you are deemed high risk, they may prescribe equipment like adjustable air pressure masks or similar devices to help keep airways open during sleep. Screening and compliance help offset life threatening risks.
Snoring relief comes down to identifying the specific anatomical cause based on one’s health profile and habits, then experimenting with solutions until discovering what works for each unique situation. With a few lifestyle modifications and some trial and error, peaceful and quiet slumber awaits just about any bothersome snorer.
7 Comments
Tamra Phelps
I have congestion, so I probably do snore. But there is, alas, no one to wake up so I don’t worry about it, lol.
Connie: The Head Peanut
I snore like a diesel generator. I just found out I have Sleep Apnea too. Dang it. Looks like a CPAC machine is in my future. ACKKKKKK
Terri Quick
Thank you for sharing
Connie: The Head Peanut
Absolutely!
heather
These are some great remedies to try out. One thing I wil not put up with is snoring!
Connie: The Head Peanut
I am A HORRIBLE, shake the roof kind of snorer. UGH!!