How to prevent snoring naturally
Do you snore? Well, this a difficult question that only your bed partner can answer. Alternatively, you can record your night-time activity to know whether you snore, and how loud you snore. Although it’s an annoying and irritating habit, you can prevent snoring naturally using some home remedies.
If you snore, you’re not alone – about 25% of adults snore regularly while about 45% snore occasionally. In this article, I’ll explain what snoring is and the disadvantages of snoring. I’ll also explain in detail how to prevent snoring naturally using home remedies.
What is Snoring?
Snoring is a soft or loud grunting or snorting sound you produce while you’re asleep. The chances of snoring may increase as you age because your muscle tone diminishes, making your airway constrict. Having said that, snoring can also affect younger people and children.
As I mentioned earlier, some people snore regularly while others snore occasionally. Snoring occurs when there’s an improper outflow and inflow of air while you sleep.
You see, when you fall asleep, the muscles in your throat relax naturally, the tongue slips backward, and your throat becomes narrow.
If anything obstructs free air flow at the back of the nose and mouth, the narrowing of the airways increases. As a result, the loose throat muscles vibrate, leading to snoring.
The Disadvantages of Snoring
It’s okay to snore occasionally but snoring regularly has some disadvantages. The disadvantages of snoring include the following:
You can disrupt your partner’s sleep
If your snoring is loud, you could end up disrupting your partner’s sleep. This can irritate and annoy your partner. If you don’t do something about your loud snoring, your partner could run away from you – they can go to sleep in another bedroom.
You can disrupt your own sleep
Sometimes, loud snoring is accompanied by restless sleep. In other words, snoring can disrupt your sleep. As a result, you may end up not getting enough sleep. Lack of sufficient sleep could lead to problems that could affect your life in different ways.
The problems that can occur due to lack of sufficient sleep include:
- Moodiness that can make you and others miserable.
- Morning headaches that make you miserable.
- Sleepiness during the day that can affect your productivity at work.
- Sleep deprivation can affect your health negatively, increasing the risk of getting diseases such as depression, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
How to Stop Snoring Naturally
If you snore occasionally or regularly, you can stop this habit naturally using home remedies. Below are natural home remedies that can help you stop snoring:
1. Maintain a Moderate Weight to Prevent Snoring
One way you can stop snoring naturally is by maintaining a moderate weight. You see, when you are overweight, your throat, neck, and abdomen develop excess tissue. When you sleep, the excess tissue in the throat and neck compresses the upper airway, leading to snoring.
In addition, excess abdominal tissue can push the diaphragm up and compress your rib cage. As a result, there’s pressure on the lungs, leading to restricted airflow – you end up snoring.
Below are things you can do to help you lose weight easily:
- Eat a balanced diet daily.
- Eat small food portions to reduce your caloric intake.
- Avoid junk food as it can lead to excessive weight gain.
- Avoid sweet things such as biscuits, cakes, and chocolate as they are fattening.
- Exercise regularly.
2. Treat Nasal Congestion/Obstruction to Prevent Snoring
The reason you could be snoring could be due to nasal obstruction or congestion caused by a cold, flu, or allergies. If your nose is stuffy, congested, or blocked the airflow through the nose becomes limited.
As a result, you end up breathing partially through the nose and the mouth, leading to snoring.
If you snore due to nasal congestion/obstruction, it’s best to visit your doctor. The doctor will definitely prescribe medication to cure the problem.
3. Try Sleeping on your Side to Prevent Snoring
If you start snoring, it’s best to try sleeping on your side. You see, sometimes when you sleep on your back, the tongue moves to the back of the throat and partially blocks the airflow through the throat. This could be the cause of your snoring.
Sleeping on your side can reduce the compression of the airways thus preventing snoring.
If you always end up sleeping on your back, you can do something to force yourself to sleep on your side to prevent snoring.
Here are things you could do to enable you to sleep on your side.
Use an inflated pillow: Let your back rest on an inflated pillow. The inflated pillow is firm and thus prevents you from sleeping on your back and this could help to reduce snoring.
Saw a tennis ball to the back of your pajamas: This may sound outrageous but it can work. The ball prevents you from sleeping on your back.
Use vibrating training devices: You attach the devices to your body. The devices vibrate when you sleep on your back and you thus roll to your side.
Elevate your bed head: You could also elevate your bed by putting pillows or risers under the head end of the bed. Doing so elevates your bed head by a couple of inches thus forcing you to sleep on your side.
4. Avoid Taking Sedatives
If you use sedatives to treat sleep disorders or for calming tension or anxiety, your chances of snoring may increase. The reason is that sedatives have a calming and sleep-inducing effect that depresses the central nervous system.
So, when you take sedatives, you may fall into a deep, calm sleep that leads to excessive relaxation of your muscles and the tissues around your throat. When the tissues and muscles around your throat relax excessively, you may end up snoring.
It’s therefore best to avoid taking sedatives before going to bed to prevent snoring.
5. Avoid Taking Alcohol Before Bed to Prevent Snoring
Alcohol also acts like a sedative – it can depress the central nervous system. When this happens, the tissues and muscles in the throat can relax excessively, leading to snoring. It’s better not to take alcohol before going to bed so that you can prevent snoring.
If you must take alcohol, take it at least three hours before your bedtime. Doing so helps the alcohol to clear from your body before going to bed, thus preventing snoring.
6. Get Enough Sleep Daily to Prevent Snoring
The importance of getting enough sleep daily can’t be overemphasized. If you don’t get enough sleep, you get very tired. When you finally get to sleep, you fall into a deep sleep that makes the muscles in your throat relax excessively, leading to snoring.
It’s best to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep daily to prevent snoring. If you get enough sleep daily, your snoring should improve.
7. Use an External Nasal Dilator to Prevent Snoring
There are over-the-counter devices you can use to prevent snoring. For instance, you can use an external nasal dilator to prevent snoring. This is a stiff adhesive strip that you put on top of your nose; across your nostrils.
As the name suggests, the external nasal dilator dilates your nose thus decreasing airflow resistance. When this happens, you breathe easier and thus prevent snoring.
8. Use Internal Nasal Dilators to Prevent Snoring
You can also use internal nasal dilators to prevent snoring – they are especially useful when your nose is blocked. These nasal dilators prop your nostrils open thus reducing airflow resistance. As a result, your breathing becomes more effective thus eliminating or reducing snoring.
The nasal dilators come in different sizes and shapes and are available over the counter.
9. Get Help to Prevent Snoring
Suppose all the above ways of preventing snoring naturally don’t work. In that case, it’s best to get help to stop snoring. The reason is that your snoring could be a result of other complications such as Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).
When you have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), your throat muscles relax excessively and block airflow into your lungs. You should especially seek help if your snoring is accompanied by the following things:
- Very loud, continuous snoring that disturbs others
- Restless sleep that causes insomnia
- Gasping for air as you sleep
- Feeling excessively sleepy during the day (hypersomnia)
- Irritability
- Having headaches in the morning
- Having a dry mouth in the morning
It’s good to note that not everyone who snores has Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
Final Thoughts
It’s okay to snore occasionally – after all, you could be sleep deprived or exhausted. However, if you become a habitual snorer, it’s best to do something about it for your own sake and for the sake of others.
I hope the home remedies I’ve described in this article will help you prevent snoring naturally. If your snoring persists, kindly consult a doctor to rule out other complications that cause snoring. All the best.
