How to Stop Snoring: 15 Tips, Tricks & Remedies

Snoring is not always easy for the person concerned or his/her partner. For both of them, snoring can cause difficulty falling asleep, nocturnal awakenings, fatigue, and even irritability. These anti-snoring tips will give you tips on how to stop snoring.

It is important to get quality sleep if you want to stay healthy.

If your snoring is preventing you from sleeping well or preventing your partner from falling asleep at night or getting back to sleep after waking up during the night, something needs to be done.

Identify the cause of your snoring

The first thing to do if you decide to stop snoring is to find out the cause of your snoring. Indeed, this phenomenon can come from very many factors. If you can identify the cause of your snoring, it will be easier for you to stop.

Why do we snore?

First, know that snoring is caused by the narrowing of your airways during sleep. If your airways are narrower, the air that will pass will make your pharyngeal mucous membranes vibrate more. This is what causes the noise called snoring.

What are the different causes of snoring?

Anything that can cause the airways to narrow is, potentially, a cause of snoring:

  • Snoring can be due to your anatomy if, for example, you have tonsils that are a little too big, a soft palate, or a uvula that is a little too long.
  • Snoring can come from being overweight. Some studies have shown that a neck circumference greater than 43 centimeters could induce the risk of snoring. This is due to an excess of fat which will infiltrate the tissues and consequently narrow the airways.
  • Snoring can happen if you have a stuffy nose. Several causes can cause a stuffy nose: a cold, sinusitis, an allergy, nasal polyps, a deviated nasal septum…
  • The position on the back will encourage snoring since under gravity, the tongue and the soft palate will be rushed backward and slightly obstruct the airways.
  • If you have sleep apnea, chances are you will snore too. When you have sleep apnea, you will regularly stop breathing for periods of 10 seconds, obstructing your airways. This mechanism causes snoring.
  • Menopause can also be a factor since some women will start snoring at this time when they have never snored before. This is explained by the drop in estrogen levels, a phenomenon that will cause a reduction in muscle tone. The muscles of the body relax, including those of the larynx.
  • The consumption of tobacco, alcohol, medication, or sleeping pills in the evening before sleeping will also cause snoring. In the case of tobacco, snoring will be induced by an inflammation of the mucous membrane, which may present edema and therefore obstruct the airways. In the case of alcohol and sleeping pills, the muscles of the larynx will relax and therefore promote snoring.

Finally, the age and sex of the person who snores can also be questioned since the older you get, the more you are subject to snoring. Similarly, men are more prone to snoring than women because their airways are narrower.

15 Tips to stop snoring

Sleep on your side

To avoid snoring, avoid sleeping on your back because this is the position that will compress your airways the most. The best position to eradicate snoring is the side position. If you can’t stay on your side while sleeping, you can always use an chin strap for snoring , an anti-snoring belt , or an anti-snoring backpack , which will make the position on your back uncomfortable and therefore, force you to sleep on a side position.

Raise your head

If you sleep without a pillow, that might just be the cause of your snoring. It is proven that the pillow facilitates breathing and prevents too much relaxation of the laryngeal muscles. Elevating your head with a good pillow may help your snoring stop.

Change your sheets regularly

If your snoring is due to a stuffy nose or congested or irritated airways, it may be due to an allergy. Remember to change your sheets frequently to rid them of dust and dust mites, which are likely to cause these allergies.

lose weight

If you are overweight, this may be the cause of your snoring. Losing weight will allow you to lose fat in the neck and therefore decompress your airways. By losing weight, you will undoubtedly stop snoring!

Hydrate regularly

To reduce the risk of snoring at night, make sure you stay hydrated throughout the day. Indeed, if your airways are dry, this can cause snoring.

Quit alcohol in the evening

If you tend to drink alcohol in the evening, whether as an aperitif, during meals, or regularly as a digestive, try stopping for a while and see if that helps stop your snoring. Especially when consumed two hours or less before bedtime, alcohol will relax the throat muscles and therefore promote snoring. By quitting drinking alcohol, you may have the solution to your problem!

Avoid dairy in the evening

The lactose contained in dairy products thickens the respiratory walls by increasing the amount of mucus in the nasal passages. This tends to cause snoring since it will be harder for air to flow through the airways. If you tend to consume dairy products in the evening, try to stop, it can reduce your snoring.

Stop sleeping pills

Sleeping pills and relaxing or tranquilizing drugs will cause excessive relaxation of the muscles of the larynx and therefore cause snoring. Avoid taking it before sleeping. If you have difficulty falling asleep at night, prefer natural solutions rather than sleeping pills and if this does not work, ask your doctor for advice.

Drink olive oil before sleeping

It may sound strange, but it is nevertheless an effective grandmother’s remedy for snoring! Indeed, olive oil will soften the airways and thus make it easier for air to pass during sleep. Taking a tablespoon of olive oil before bed can help stop snoring.

Clear your nasal passages before bedtime

Before going to bed, make sure your nasal passages are clear. Indeed, when we have congested nasal passages, we will tend to breathe more through the mouth and this can induce snoring. To clear your nose before sleeping, you can first start by blowing your nose. If that’s not enough, try using a saltwater spray or a peppermint inhaler. You can also take a hot shower: this also clears the nasal passages.

Place a humidifier in your bedroom

Too dry air in your room can dry out your airways and cause snoring. To avoid this, you can try placing an air humidifier in your bedroom. You will see if it gives effective results.

Use an essential oil diffuser

Some essential oils are known for their benefits when you tend to snore. For example, the marjoram essential oil will decongest the respiratory tract. You can use essential oils in a diffuser or make a mixture that you will massage on your throat before sleeping.

Try a special “magical” anti-snoring object

We have mentioned a few in this article but there are still plenty of other objects, products, and accessories to prevent snoring.

No products found.

There is something for all tastes and prices, whether it is something to put in the mouth, the nose, on the head, etc. Chances are one of them will definitely stop your snoring.

Go through the operation box

For cases of severe snoring, it is possible to carry out operations aimed directly at the source of the problem, however, these operations can be cumbersome and not necessarily effective in the long term. Talk to your doctor.

Use earplugs

If you have arrived on this page because you or your partner snores but unfortunately no solution seems to be able to stop the snoring, the simplest solution is sure to buy earplugs to sleep. So yes the problem is not really solved but the result is the same: silence for the disturbed person. That said, you have to test whether you can bear having earplugs in your ears to sleep, but you get used to it.

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