Are you driving your partner nuts with your snoring? Have you been banished to the spare room or even further away? Now is the time to take action and try some DIY snore remedies.

Dangers of snoring

Snoring is a dangerous activity to indulge in! Not only can you get socked for keeping your bed partner awake all night (a form of torture) but you can actually stop breathing and die if you suffer from sleep apnoea.

Snoring starts when the muscles in your soft palate (roof of your mouth), tongue and throat relax as you go to sleep. The tissues in your throat can, however, get so relaxed that they partially block your airway. When this happens the air you breathe in causes the tissues in your throat to vibrate, The narrower your airway, the more intense the vibration and the snore.

Snoring is not natural and if you want to prevent a divorce or being banished to Siberia you better do something about it.

Natural ways to stop snoring

A number of factors contribute to who snores and why. The more serious causes may involve the structure of your mouth or problems with your tongue and nasal passages. These need to be checked out by your doctor. The less serious causes can to a certain extent be alleviated by making some natural lifestyle changes.

Snoring self-help tips include the following:

  1. Watch your weigh! Excess weight can further restrict the airways and cause the vibrations that produce snores. It may also, over time, help cause sleep apnoea.
  2. Try to sleep on your side rather than your back. There’s more pressure on the throat when lying on your back.
  3. Raise the head of your bed, which may help keep your tongue from falling back and blocking your throat.
  4. Avoid alcohol and sedatives before going to bed. Alcohol relaxes the muscles in your mouth and throat, creating the ideal circumstances for producing a snore. It also leads to less restful sleep.
  5. Quit or cut down on smoking. Smoking is a major contributor to snoring and also causes upper airway irritation and inflammation as well as permanent damage to the respiratory system.
  6. Keep your nasal passages clear. Nasal congestion forces you to breathe in through your mouth, a common snore trigger. Herbal pills that target nasal congestion and work to reduce it may also help lessen snoring.
  7. Use a humidifier or vaporiser to keep air moist and add a few drops of peppermint or eucalyptus oil to help open up airways and clear out your sinuses while you sleep. Dry air dries out your throat and nasal membranes and contributes to congestion and snoring.
  8. Treat those allergies and keep your environment clean of pollen, dust, pet dander and other allergy triggers.
  9. Get plenty of natural quality sleep and rest. Go to bed and get up at the same time each day to help create a consistent circadian rhythm (biological sleep-wake cycle). Lack of sleep and an overtired body often exacerbate snoring.
  10. Exercise. Moderate exercise a few times a week can help you sleep better, lose weight and relieve snoring.
  11. Watch what you eat to prevent weight gain or allergic reactions.
  12. Learn how to control your breathing. Learn how to take deep, slow breaths and get the most out of the oxygen around you. Not only will breathing properly help deliver blood to your brain it will also increase circulation and help you relax.

Snoring is a tricky thing and finding relief may take quite a few DIY, natural, trial-and-error hits and misses. If all else fails, there are other aids available such as mouth guards, nasal strips and valves, etc.

 

Sources

 

Klein, S. 2014. Want to stop snoring? Here’s what works (and what doesn’t). Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Natural ways to stop snoring. 2014. Retrieved from: https://www.theraventsnoring.com