About 45% of American adults snore on occasion. Snoring itself isn’t necessarily a health issue, but it is a symptom of at least one serious condition, and the noise of snoring may impact the lives of those around you in the form of interrupted sleep.
If your snoring condition is serious enough to warrant medical treatment, see the specialists at Lakeshore Ear, Nose and Throat Center in any of their five locations in the Detroit metropolitan area. Snoring can be serious enough to require surgery to correct. However, you can make many lifestyle changes to improve your well-being.
Consider the following tips for a home care plan to relieve snoring. The sooner you start, the better your chances for reducing the problem, which tends to get worse over time.
Sleep positions
It feels great, after a long day, to lay down on your bed at night, head on the pillow, and relax. If you tend to fall asleep in this position, your chances of snoring are at their highest.
Snoring happens because of the relaxation of soft tissue in your throat. As these tissues relax, they collapse into the natural path of breathing. Air causes them to vibrate, creating the characteristic sound of snoring.
Sleeping on your side uses gravity to your advantage, as the lateral movement of relaxed tissue doesn’t block breathing as it does when you’re on your back. Search for strategies to help you remain on your side for the night and you may dramatically reduce your snoring.
Sleep schedule
Regardless of how you consciously react to routine, your body thrives on a regular and consistent pattern of sleep and waking times. Good bedtime habits include going to sleep each night and waking every morning about the same time.
If you’re chronically overtired, you stay in sleep phases that encourage snoring.
Alcohol consumption
While you may feel that a drink or two helps your sleep, it makes snoring worse. The relaxing effects of alcohol affect the soft tissue in your throat, too, causing them to collapse even more than they usually would. Keep alcohol consumption outside of a five-hour window before bed.
Weight loss
While normal and underweight people may also snore, your risk increases if your body mass is above normal range. Losing weight often reduces the volume of tissue in the throat area, easing the collapses that cause snoring.
Chronic allergies
Dust mites collect in your pillows over time, so even if you don’t have serious allergies, nighttime concentrations of allergens may be enough to stuff you up and complicate snoring. Wash bed linens regularly, and keep pets out of the bedroom.
Nasal dilators
Any constriction along your breathing passages increases the velocity of the air going through. Faster air means more snoring vibrations. Opening your nose using purpose-made adhesive strips and dilators may help enough to slow down air movement.
The right snoring solution for you may include one or more of these strategies. If you’re still having problems despite your self-care efforts, contact Lakeshore Ear, Nose and Throat Center.
Call the nearest office directly or use the appointment request tool for the office of your choice. Healthy sleep is too important to ignore, so book your consultation now.
