5 Facts About Snoring You Didn?t Know

Article brought to you by the Yin Yang anti snore ring which uses acupressure to help you get a snore free night.

Chances are that you know someone who snores. You may, however, not know the causes of snoring even though it is common knowledge. Sleeping position, fatigue, stress, drinking, medication, nasal and sinus problems, being overweight, smoking, using sedatives and sleeping pills can all cause it. You have no excuse for ignorance, especially considering that you are about to discover things about snoring you had no clue existed.

The way you snore reveals your reason for snoring

Your style of sleeping and how you snore hold the key to discovering the reason why you snore, and hence get you a step closer to finding a cure. Sleeping positions tell a lot.

When you snore with a closed mouth, this is an indicator of a possible problem with your tongue. Open-mouth snoring, on the other hand, indicates problems related to your throat tissues. Mild snoring may occur when you sleep on your back, and a lifestyle change coupled with improving sleeping habits may be effective cures. When you snore in all sleeping positions, this is an indicator of a more severe problem, whose treatment may have to be more comprehensive.

High-tech images can explain why snoring occurs

A CT scan is not necessary to tell whether someone snores or not. However, there are high-tech medical images that explain the reasons for snoring. From a head and neck scan of a mixture of people who snore and who don?t, people who snore are seen to have narrow throats and long soft palates. A majority of these people also have high BMI (body mass index) and they are older.

In snoring, the key structure is usually the soft part of the roof of the mouth (soft palate). Negative pressure develops during breathing, which sucks the soft palate into vibrating. It defines the constriction, as its repetitive closure obstructs breathing to producing the sound of snoring. Hence, during casual treatment of snoring, the soft palate should be the key target.

Pro footballers have a snoring problem

Did you know that the bigger a pro footballer is the harder he snores? This is a big health problem, commonly referred to as sleep-disordered breathing. It occurs when there is blockage of the air passage during sleep, and the result is loud snoring and interrupted or extremely shallow breathing that makes you wake up frequently. During the day, the pro finds himself falling asleep and there is great risk of accidents. There is also a high risk of heart disease and high blood pressure at a later stage in life.

If your muscles and huge, physically fit body are your strongest points in life, think again for this could be a major weakness. Those men who have bulky necks are at great risk of sleep-disordered breathing. Studies have shown that four per cent of the population is affected by sleep-disordered breathing, and among obese people it is three times more common. The rate of occurrence amongst footballers in peak physical condition is similar to that of obese people, and offensive and defensive linemen who are the biggest have a 34 percent risk.

Snoring can cause depression

Snoring does not just bring problems for you, but also for your partner. The cause of all the fighting at home may be because your snoring is keeping your partner awake all night long. You can easily get depressed, lose concentration, become irritable or even get into the habit of falling asleep during normal waking hours. When you get to this point, it is important that you pay a visit to the doctor. It is also a good idea that when booking your appointment, you tell the doctor you want to talk about your snoring problem to enable this professional to schedule the right amount of time for evaluating you.

There are simple bedtime remedies that can stop snoring

That cup of caffeinated drink that you love taking before you go to sleep may be the reason why your snoring is so loud it threatens to bring down the roof. Avoid taking caffeine or dairy products and eating heavy meals two hours before you sleep.

Sleep on your side, not back, to reduce the chances of gravity making your tongue and soft palate drop and block your air passage. Also, get yourself those pillows specially designed to prevent snoring, as they will prevent the crimping of your neck muscles. You should sleep with your head elevated about four inches to make breathing easy and enable the jaw and tongue to move forward.

Moist air in the bedroom prevents the irritation of nose and throat membranes, which helps prevent snoring. You can use a humidifier to maintain the moistness. You should also clear your nasal passage, especially if you have a stuffy nose. This is because the stuffy nose makes inhalation hard, and a vacuum is created in the throat resulting in snoring. There are nasal decongestants, nasal strips and the natural neti pot to aid your ease of breathing as you sleep.