Everyone, including babies, snore occasionally. Snoring affects a person's quality of sleep, leaving most individuals tired and irritable. Loud snoring can even become a problem for a person's sleeping partner.
Rather than seeking medical help, trying a non-invasive snoring treatment may help someone reduce their snoring. Sleeping on your side, elevating the head of the bed, limiting alcohol consumption and medications before sleep, clearing nasal passages and losing weight are all options for trying a non-invasive route to eliminate snoring. Every one of these options can be tried at home by the person who suffers from snoring.
If you are dealing with a mild snoring problem, you may be able to address the issue simply by using a different pillow. Pillows for snoring are firmer than regular pillows and can help keep your neck and head in place overnight so that your airway can remain open. Snoring pillows also come in a wedge shape so you can angle your head as you sleep and avoid any positions that cause pressure and trigger snoring.
Losing weight reduces the amount of fatty tissue in the back of the throat and can reduce snoring significantly. Elevating the head of the bed can make breathing easier and move the tongue and jaw forward. Consuming alcohol or taking medications relaxes the throat and tongue muscles and can create problems. Dairy foods thicken mucus and make snoring more likely as well.
Nasal decongestants or nasal strips help to open the breathing passages in the nose and can be purchased in stores everywhere. To eliminate snoring, a person may have to try one snoring treatment or a number of them in conjunction with one another. If the various non-invasive snoring treatments do not work, then snoring could be caused by something more serious and a professional opinion should be sought for proper diagnosis.
An ear, nose and throat doctor, a family physician, or a dentist can help with specialized medical devices that help reduce snoring. They will be able to assess the problem and decide which snoring treatment is best for each individual. One type of snoring treatment that is often used is the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine. It sits at your bedside and blows air through a mask worn on your face while sleeping.
Various dental appliances, lower jaw positioners and oral devices can be administered by a dentist. Some resemble mouth guards and open the airway by forcing the lower jaw and tongue forward. While some fit inside the mouth, others fit around the head and chin to adjust the jaw.
Sometimes a person needs to take the surgical route when considering which snoring treatment is best for them. Various surgeries can be performed to increase the size of your airway by correcting tissue abnormalities or removing the tissue altogether. Tonsils may be removed along with the adenoids, and even reconstructing the jaw is possible. An implant procedure can be performed that inserts small plastic implants into the soft palate. When scar tissue grows around the implants, it causes the soft palate to stiffen, ceasing the vibration in the back of the throat that causes snoring.
Snoring can be mild and happen occasionally or it can be constant and severe. When non-invasive snoring treatments do not help and it begins lessening the quality of your life, it is time to seek a professional opinion. Your physician will be able to figure out the problem and discuss which treatment is best for you.
