Your partner seems a little upset with you, but you’re not sure what you’ve done. It could be that he or she isn’t getting a full night’s sleep, thanks to your loud snoring. While snoring that’s loud enough to keep a bed partner up at night can be enough to ruin a relationship, that doesn’t have to be the case. Home remedies and, if needed, snoring treatments can help you stop snoring and let everyone in the bedroom enjoy a full seven to eight hours of peaceful sleep.
Snoring Treatments and Solutions
Roll Over
No two snorers are necessarily alike. People snore for a variety of reasons. Some do it because they have difficulty breathing in through the nose or throat, others snore because they have an issue with their tongue. Some people only snore when they are lying on their back.
Usually, back sleepers who snore have a mild case of snoring. Fortunately, it’s also the easiest type of snoring to fix. Your partner might give you a shove to roll you over onto to your side if you fall asleep on your back and start snoring in the middle of the night.
There are other ways to train yourself not to sleep on your back if doing so makes you snore. One option is to place a pillow against your back as you fall asleep on your side, so that you’re less likely to roll over onto your back. Another, less comfortable option, is to attach two or three tennis balls to the back of your pajamas top. When you flip over on to your back, the tennis balls will press into you and prove pretty uncomfortable, so that you flip back on to your side or stomach.
Hydrate
In some cases, you end up snoring because your nasal passages and throat are just too dry. Making sure you are getting enough water each day (between 11 and 16 cups from your food and drink combined) is the first step to keeping yourself sufficiently hydrated when sleeping. The air around you can also affect your hydration levels. When it’s dry, your throat and nose are likely to dry out, making the secretions produced by them thicker and more conducive to snoring. Add moisture to the air by running a humidifier in your room at night.
Try Losing Weight
Snoring can be caused by having too much loose or fatty tissue in the throat. If you are carrying extra pounds and your partner is complaining about your snoring, losing weight might also help reduce your snoring.
Although weight loss can help some people, it’s not a 100% certain solution. After all, people who are a healthy weight or even underweight can snore, too. But, if you have recently gained weight and started to snore recently too, there might be a connection between the two.
Open the Nasal Passages
A deviated septum, bad cold or allergies can block off the nasal passages and make your snoring worse. If you only snore when you have a cold, taking a decongestant before you go to bed can help. So can rinsing your nasal passages out with saline (salt water) using a neti pot or a saline nasal spray.
In the case of allergies, figuring out what is causing your allergies, then avoiding those triggers is essential. Keep your bedroom clean and free of dust, for example, don’t let pets into the bedroom, and keep the bedroom windows closed to keep pollen out. Taking allergy medication can also help.
Physically opening the nasal passages using a breathing strip can also help reduce your snoring. You apply the strip across the bridge of your nose and it gently opens up your nasal passages.
Consider Surgery or Implants
In more extreme cases, surgery might be the best snoring treatment for you. The surgery that is most appropriate depends on the cause of your snoring. For example, septoplasty can be effective at minimizing snoring if you snore because of a deviated septum. A surgery known as Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) can be the right option for patients who snore because of excess tissue in the throat. UPPP widens the airway by removing part of the uvula, part of the tongue, the adenoids, tonsils and part of the soft palate. What is removed varies from patient to patient.
If your snoring is due to the vibration of your soft palate as you sleep, a Pillar procedure might be the right treatment for you. A quick, in-office procedure, it involves placing several small rods into the soft palate to hold the palate in place and stiffen it, reducing vibrations as you sleep.
Figuring out the cause of your snoring is the first step to finding the right snoring treatment. It might be that all you need to do is roll over sleeping, or it might be that you need help from a medical professional to quit the snoring habit for good and let your spouse get a good night’s sleep.
About Dr. Rubinstein
Dr. Rubinstein has been helping patients in the Hudson Valley quit snoring for almost sixteen years. Board certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Dr. Rubinstein is also a member of the American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery, and an Assistant Professor at New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. Whether you have a snoring problem or your spouse does, you can schedule an appointment with Dr. Rubinstein at the Hudson Valley Sinus Center by calling 845-562-6673.