Why You Snore and How To Control Snoring

What Happens When You Snore

Sleep has become a luxury in recent times that having it interrupted by snores can be frustrating.

Snoring occurs when air can’t flow easily through the mouth or nose. The forceful airflow causes soft tissues of the upper respiratory tract (nose, mouth, and throat) to vibrate, producing a grumbling or rattling sound. It is regarded as a mild sleeping disorder and affects an estimated 45% of adults from time to time.?

Although snoring is quite common, it can hurt the quality of your sleep, as well as disturb your sleeping partner.

If you are a loud and chronic snorer, there are chances that your snoring is a symptom of a sleep disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a condition characterized by repeated episodes of relaxing and narrowing of the walls of the upper airway , leading to partial or complete obstruction. This causes you to develop irregular partial breathing which interrupts your sleep. There are two breathing interruption patterns in OSA;?

Apnea: occurs when there is a total cessation of breathing. The airflow is blocked completely for a few seconds.

Hypopnea : characterized by a partial cessation of breathing.

People with OSA usually experience both interruption patterns and this results in either a disruption in sleep, a fall in blood oxygen saturation, or the two. This can occur as much as up to 20 times every hour. In severe cases, it can happen every minute or two.

In the long run, such disruption can affect your overall health and quality of life. According to Dr. Alan Schwartz, a sleep expert at John Hopkins, Sleep Apnea increases your chance of developing cardiovascular heart disease and so, be diagnosed and treated immediately. (1)

Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

The primary distinguishing factor in OSA is loud snoring accompanied by a period of silence whenever breathing ceases or almost stops. The lack of oxygen alerts the brain, pulling you out of sleep and ensuring your airways reopen to allow normal breathing. This is why you may wake up with a gasp or snort.

Other symptoms include

• Increased sleepiness during the day
• Morning headaches
• Night chest pains
• Choking at night
• Restless sleep
• Difficulty in concentrating
• High blood pressure in severe cases
• Poor attention span and behavioral issues in children at school.
• Night sweats and frequent urge to wake up and urinate.
• Teeth grinding at night

What causes Snoring?

Asides from OSA discussed above, other reasons why you snore include;

• Nasal Congestion : conditions like sinusitis, allergy, nasal polyps, and a deviated septum can block your airways, preventing you from breathing normally at night. (2)?
• Long soft palate/uvula or bulky throat tissue: having any of these can cause the opening from your nose to your throat to narrow. Your airways get blocked when they vibrate and bump against each other.
• Sleeping position: some sleeping positions like sleeping with a pillow that's too large or soft, or sleeping on your back can narrow the airways, making you snore.
• Sleep deprivation: your throat muscles are prone to over-relax if you don't get enough sleep.? Sarah McConville, MD, an assistant professor at the University of Utah Health Care admits that trying to catch some sleep after periods of deprivation can contribute to snoring. (3)?

Other risk factors that could predispose you to snore at night include the following;

• Obesity: being overweight or obese allows for excess body fat to accumulate in the neck, increasing the soft tissue there and straining the throat muscles. Overweight children with large tonsils and adenoids are more likely to develop snoring disorders.
• Age: Although snoring is not limited to any age, it is more common in adults above 40 years.?
• Taking sedatives: sleeping tablets can sometimes make you snore.
• Alcohol: drinking alcohol, especially before going to bed might increase your chances of snoring.
• Being male: maybe because of the different patterns of distribution of fat in males and females, men are more likely to snore than women. The fact that men often have large necks could be a major contributor.?
• Genes: as with most medical conditions, you might be more likely to snore if your parents are chronic snorers
• Smokers have higher chances of snoring as a result of the irritation and inflammation caused by cigarette smoke to the airways.

How To Determine If You Snore

Most people that snore are unaware that they do so until a sleeping partner informs them. They often have no memory of their interrupted breathing. If you sleep alone and happen to notice the aforementioned symptoms, you are encouraged to visit a doctor.

He might carry out a physical exam or imaging tests to check for the presence of obstructions to the airways. He might also carry out a sleep study on you (also known as polysomnography, involves having a machine monitor your sleep at home or in the lab. This allows your breathing, heart rate, blood oxygen level, and brain activity to be measured).

Treatment Options For Snoring Include

Lifestyle changes: Mild snoring can be often managed by adjustments in lifestyle such as:

• Maintain a healthy weight: it goes without saying that you need to watch what you eat to avoid being overweight since it's a risk factor for snoring.
• Be conscious of your sleeping position: Since sleeping on your back or with a large pillow can obstruct your airways, you should try other sleeping positions such as; sleeping on your side, elevating the head of your bed or using a wedge pillow. (4)?
• Reduce your alcohol intake: especially just before you go to bed. This will greatly reduce your chances of snoring.
• Quit smoking!

Oral Appliances: otherwise known as anti-snoring mouthpieces refers to a small plastic device worn in the mouth as you sleep. It helps to keep your jaw and tongue in place to avoid airway obstruction. There are two types of anti-snoring mouthpieces;

Tongue-retaining devices that prevent your tongue from sliding back into your throat.

Mandibular Advancement devices that work by holding the lower jaw forward.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure Devices (CPAP): commonly used to treat sleep apnea. It works by pumping pressurized air into the airway through a hose and mask.

Mouth Exercises: There are exercises targeted at building muscle tone of your upper respiratory tract muscles. This helps to prevent slackening/over-relaxing of the muscles, hence reducing snoring.

Surgery: is usually the last alternative when other treatment options fail. It can be carried out to remove or shrink the tissues in your throat. Nasal polyps and a deviated septum can be corrected with surgery too.

Although snoring is not life-threatening, it can lead to other complications such as arrhythmia , stroke, GERD, and even mental issues. (5)?

Having a partner who snores can equally affect your sleeping pattern and make you irritable in the morning. You can assist your partner to apply the aforementioned healthy lifestyle measures to reduce snoring. It's a win-win situation for both parties.

References

1. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/why-do-people-snore-answers-for-better-health
2. https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-apnea/snoring
3. https://healthcare.utah.edu/healthfeed/postings/2017/11/snoring.php
4. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/snoring
5. https://www.everydayhealth.com/news/eleven-health-risks-snoring/