Is Snoring Bad for Your Health? -

If that sounds like you, there are some simple changes you can make to help you snore less. Keep in mind the solution to your snoring will depend on what’s causing it.

“Snoring is not a health risk in and of itself and is more of a symptom, so it depends on the cause of the snoring to address the treatment,” says Kendra Becker, MD, a sleep medicine director and internist at Kaiser Permanente in Fontana, California.

For example, you may be forced to breathe through your mouth because allergies have you chronically congested, or a deviated septum (displacement of the cartilage inside your nose) obstructs your nasal airflow. Treating those can help you breathe easier, and may reduce or eliminate your snoring.

Kilkenny also recommends:

Losing weight if you’re overweight
Avoiding alcohol and sedatives such as narcotics and benzodiazepines
Taking medications to free up congestion when you’re feeling sick
Sleeping with your head elevated
Sleeping on your side instead of your back
Quitting smoking
Prioritizing sleep quantity and quality

Beyond those lifestyle changes, you can try:

Nasal Strips Designed to Keep Your Nasal Passages Open A study found study participants who wore a nasal strip to bed reported an improvement in sleep quality nearly twice as high as those who used a placebo.

A Snore-Reducing Pillow “These help keep your airway open by repositioning your neck and head,” Kilkenny says, though he admits they aren’t the most powerful way to end snoring. A small study found using a pillow with an expansion angle of 20 degrees resulted in no snoring during the first 30 minutes of sleep, compared with five snoring episodes for those using a standard pillow.

Oral Appliances That Reposition Your Jaw to Maximize Air Flow Oral appliances can greatly reduce or eliminate snoring.

Surgical Procedure “Surgery is usually not recommended for simple snoring,” Dr. Becker says. And insurance companies typically don’t pay for surgical treatments for snoring, Kilkenny says. However, if you have another condition such as OSA, you may benefit from surgery to remove tissue from your mouth or throat. A small study found that the use of a device called a pillar implant to stiffen the soft palate reduced the frequency and loudness of snoring among participants.

What are the chances you can implement the above and stop the snoring for good? “Everything is relative, but if one improves these conditions, the snoring should improve,” Kilkenny says. However, he adds that anatomy is still the major reason snoring develops, and that is more difficult to fix.

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