Everyone, both children and adults, occasionally snore. Some people are likely to snore because of risk factors like age and family history. Though snoring is common, long-term snoring will likely increase your risk of stroke and heart attack. Fortunately, Commack snoring solutions can help minimize air obstruction in your passages, allowing you to enjoy a peaceful sleep. Snoring is not only a nuisance to your partner or friends. It can result in chronic sleep deprivation disorders, affecting your sleep quality.
What are the risk factors for snoring?
You are more likely to snore because of:
- Alcohol: Alcoholic drinks and specific medications will most likely relax your muscles, restricting your airflow.
- Anatomy: A large tongue, tonsils, enlarged adenoids, and a deviated septum make airflow challenging through your nose and mouth.
- General health: Common colds and allergies are notorious for causing nasal stuffiness. When the stuffiness happens, it blocks your airflow, making it impossible for you to breathe.
- Weight: You are most likely to snore and have sleep-related disorders when you are overweight. Additionally, pregnancy might also increase your snoring risks because of weight gain and hormonal imbalance.
- Age: Snoring is common as you age because your muscle tone decreases, constricting your airways
- Family history: You have increased chances of snoring if it runs in your family.
What non-surgical options do you have to minimize snoring?
There are various recommendations your healthcare provider might suggest to help air passage through your mouth and nose as you sleep. The approaches include:
- Medications: The medical expert may prescribe cold and allergy drugs medications to help decongest your nasal cavity
- Lifestyle changes: Maintaining a healthy weight, changing sleep positions, and cutting down on alcoholic beverages shortly before going to bed eases your breathing, minimizing snoring.
- Oral appliances: Wearing a mouth guard, specifically for snoring as you sleep, keeps your jaw in place, facilitating the airflow.
- Nasal strips: The devices are flexible bands your doctor will advise you to stick outside your nose to keep your nasal passages open, allowing air to pass through.
Your doctor may also advise you to:
- Humidify your room
Though dry air is an unlikely cause of snoring, it is likely to aggravate it. Therefore, the healthcare professional might suggest using humidifiers to help the air in your room remain moist and comfortable to your airways. Besides lubricating your throat, the humid air will enhance breathing without noisy vibrations.
- Hydrate
Hydration is a good idea, especially if you snore. Drinking several glasses of water per day prevents mucus formation in your nose, which is likely to increase your chances of snoring.
- Exercise your throat muscles
You will most likely snore when your tongue and throat muscles weaken and relax, obstructing your airways. Exercises like singing and tongue movements a couple of minutes in a day can help strengthen your throat and tongue significantly, minimizing their chances of relaxing when you sleep.
Knowing how to combat snoring can be challenging. However, trying a new approach can help you figure out what best alleviates your snoring. Do not let snoring interfere with your sound sleep when you can contact your doctor for help.