Excessive snoring, which is quite a common problem, affects people of any age, but is more typical for men, overweight people, and older people. When the air that flows through the mouth and nose is obstructed, the walls of the throat can vibrate, resulting in snoring. Among the causes of this kind of obstruction are bulky throat tissue, nasal polyps, a deviated septum, a long soft palate, or the tongue and throat having poor muscle tone. Snoring is more likely to occur if you sleep on your back rather than your side or stomach, because of the way gravity pulls the tongue and palate backwards.
Some medications or alcohol may relax muscles and thus can also make snoring more probable. Snoring excessively not only bothers people sleeping near you, but also can cause you to feel tired even though you’ve slept a long time. If you snore excessively you also are more likely to have a serious health concern, such as sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can cause you to stop breathing for more than ten seconds at a time because your airway is totally blocked, and these breathing interruptions can occur dozens of times in one night.
If you have this disorder you may also wake up frequently, or have lowered levels of oxygen, which could lead you to have higher blood pressure and be more likely to have a heart attack or a stroke. When deciding how to prevent snoring problems, you need to keep in mind that none of the over 300 anti-snoring devices that are on the market do much to solve the problems that cause the snoring to occur. You should first try to address these problems by changing aspects of your behavior and lifestyle. Among the changes are sleeping on your side, tilting up the head of your bed several inches, losing weight, and avoiding snacks and alcohol at least four hours before bedtime. If you have difficulty staying on your side while sleeping, try to sleep with a tennis ball attached to the back of your pajamas.
This technique often works to keep you off your back, and eventually you can do without the ball. If no behavior changes stop the snoring, then research on the Web how to prevent snoring by using such anti-snoring devices as those that move your jaw forward or hold your nose open. If those still don’t work, you may need surgery, like a somnoplasty to shrink excessive tissue, or UPPP, which tightens tissues of the palate and throat.