5 snoring treatment tips

There are several treatment tips that you can apply to stop snoring.

1. Examine your habits and find out what lifestyle changes you can make to eliminate snoring

If you are overweight, you are likely to have too much fatty tissue on your neck or at the back of your throat. The fat is likely to weigh down on the airway and cause snoring. Try to lose weight. If you are able to lose even just a few pounds, you will reduce the pressure on your airway and decrease the snoring.

Stop smoking. When you smoke, you tend to irritate the membranes in your throat and nose. The membranes may become swollen and obstruct the air passage, resulting in snoring.

Pass up on sleeping pills and alcohol. When you drink alcohol or take sedatives, the muscles in your throat tend to become slack and impede your breathing. Tell your doctor about your snoring problem if he gives you prescription medicines.

Start an exercise program. Exercise helps you lose weight. When you work out your abs, legs, and arms, you also strengthen the muscles in your throat area. This can help reduce snoring.

Cultivate regular sleeping habits. Try to sleep and wake up at regular hours. When you have consistent sleep patterns, you tend to sleep better and reduce snoring.

2. Maintain bedtime rituals that minimize snoring

Make sure that the air in your bedroom remains moist. Dry air can irritate nasal tissues and aggravate them to the point of becoming inflamed. Use a humidifier if necessary.

Take the necessary measures to keep your nasal passages clear. Use saline rinses, nasal strips, or nasal decongestants so that you are able to breathe more comfortably while you sleep. Take antihistamines if you have allergy problems.

Do not lie flat on your back. This position causes your soft palate and tongue to lie flat against the base of your throat, jamming the airway and causing snoring. Prop up your head and back by using extra pillows.

You can also elevate the top side of your bed by raising the legs underneath it with a number of flat boards. Better still, you can sleep on your side.

3. Do throat exercises

Throat exercises can help prevent snoring by strengthening the muscles around the throat and the surrounding areas.

Say the vowels a, e, i, o, u in a loud, deliberate manner for three or five minutes a couple of times every day.

Angle your tongue so that its tip falls squarely at the rear of your top front teeth. Let your tongue slide backwards against your palate and then back to its original position. Do this exercise for about three minutes each day.

Pucker your lips. Hold the position for half a minute.

Open your mouth as wide as you can. Move your jaw towards the right and keep it there for about 30 seconds. Do it on the other side.

Open your mouth wide. Exercise the muscle located at the backside of your throat by contracting it again and again for half a minute.

Hold your tongue out, stretching it as much as you can. Hold. Relax. Repeat the exercise 10 times.

4. Use an anti-snoring mouthpiece device

This device is also called a mandibular advancement splint or a dental appliance. Wear the device inside your mouth while you sleep. It stops the soft throat tissues form caving in and blocking the air passage. It does this by bringing up the soft palate and pushing the lower jaw frontward. You can also opt for a device that stops the tongue from collapsing back above the windpipe.

5. Consult a specialist

Snoring can have adverse effects on the quality of sleep. You can feel exhausted even upon waking up. If none of these home remedies work to reduce snoring, it may be prudent for you to see a specialist. Consult a doctor who specializes in sleep problems or in sleep medicine.
 
 
Author: Katherine Dilworth

Katherine Dilworth is a wife, mother and a blogger and she writes on caseydilworth.com, this blog provides exclusive information on Why do People Snore and Snoring Solutions.