Have you ever looked forward to a good night's sleep at the end of a long day, only to be kept awake all night by your partner's snoring? If not, has your partner ever complained about your snoring? This common ailment can disrupt sleep and strain relationships, so if you or your family members snore, it's time to do something about it.
Why we snore?
- A blocked or stuffy nose: If you're having a cold, allergies or an ear, nose or throat infection, the consequent blockage in your nasal passageways can cause you to snore.
- Sleeping on your back: When we sleep on our back, our tongue may fall backways into our throat and partially obstruct our airways and impairing our breathing.
- Being overweight: If we have excess body fat in our neck tissue, our airways are put under additional pressure from the extra weight, which can cause them to collapse and interfere with our breathing.
- Sleep apnoea: Sufferers of sleep apnoea experience interrupted breathing during sleep, which can severely impair the quality of our sleep and even adversely affect our general health.
Combating snoring
While there is no foolproof way to stop snoring, especially since the causes of snoring can be quite difficult to identify, many have expressed success with the following strategies.
- Avoiding alcohol at night, which can relax the airways and contribute to snoring.
- Sleeping on one’s side instead of on the back.
- Surgery with doctor’s recommendation for serious cases of sleep apnoea.
High-quality and adequate sleep is absolutely essential to our health. Don't let your snoring interfere!