It is estimated that over 45% of adults snore occasionally, while 25% snore habitually. Snoring occurs when you can’t move air freely through your nose and throat during sleep. This results in the vibration of the surrounding tissues, which produces the familiar snoring sound.
Besides blocked airways or a stuffy nose, snoring is also caused by sleeping posture, age, excessive smoking, alcohol intake, and being overweight.
In this post, we will furnish you with proven tips on how to stop snoring. Let’s dive in!
Effective Tips to Stop Snoring
To begin with, while there are several remedies for snoring, not every remedy is right for everyone. Putting a stop to your snoring habit will require lifestyle changes, patience, and a willingness to explore different solutions. Here’s how to stop snoring:
1. Change Your Sleeping Posture
To encourage easy breathing and open airways, you should sleep in such a way that your head is 3-4 inches above the bed. You can consider going for pillows specifically designed to elevate your head to the recommended height and ensure your neck muscles aren’t crimped.
Also, ensure you sleep on your side rather than your back. If you find it difficult to do this, consider wedging a pillow stuffed with tennis balls or empty cans behind your back. This way, you will feel discomfort if you roll over onto your back. When sleeping on your side eventually becomes a habit, you can discard the tennis balls or cans.
2. Use an Anti-snoring Device
Anti-snoring devices are designed to reduce/stop snoring. Some of these devices include nasal strips, anti-snore chin straps, neti pots, and nasal dilators. You can opt for any depending on your preference and budget.
3. Clear Your Nasal Passage
If you have a stuffy nose, ensure you clear it before you go to bed. A nasal decongestant can come in handy when you want to clear your nose.
Also, bear in mind that dry air in a room can cause nose and throat irritation, which may result in snoring. You can use a humidifier to keep your bedroom air moist.
4. Exercise
The weightier you are, the more fatty tissues you have at the back of your throat, which causes snoring. While there are several ways to lose weight, exercising is perhaps the most effective.
As you exercise, the muscles in your arms, legs, and even throat become well-toned, resulting in less snoring amongst other things.
5. Avoid Smoking and Sleeping Pills
Smoking irritates the membranes in the nose and throat, thereby blocking your airways and causing you to snore. While quitting smoking is easier said than done, it can be the only way out if it’s the cause of your snoring.
Also, you should consider steering clear of sleeping pills and sedatives because they encourage a deeper level of sleep which can make snoring worse.
6. Avoid Eating Large Meals Late at Night
Eating heavy meals late at night promotes snoring because, during the process of digestion, the throat and tongue muscles relax. If you must eat, steer clear of high-fat dairy products and acidic foods containing spicy ingredients because they are known to irritate the throat lining, which can worsen snoring.
Takeaway
If you snore in all sleeping positions, then your snoring is more severe and may require more than self-help treatment and lifestyle changes. You should speak to a Health Connect 24×7 doctor if you notice that you snore very loudly and heavily, or you stop breathing, gasp for air, or choke during sleep.
These issues may be pointers to an underlying medical condition such as sleep apnea that needs to be promptly addressed.