Here, learn how to tell if you snore in the first place, and how to get through the night quietly and peacefully. Snoring becomes more common with age and weight gain. The normal aging process leads to a relaxation of the throat muscles, while extra weight and fat around the neck can cause airways to narrow when you lie down, causing loud vibrations as you breathe. While it’s tempting to think snoring is no big deal, that’s not always the case. In addition to being annoying and disruptive to you and anyone you share a bed with, loud snoring on a regular basis can be (about 50 percent of the time) a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which muscles in the back of the throat fail to keep the airway open, resulting in brief but repeated interruptions in breathing. You need to seek out professional treatment for sleep apnea, as it can lead to serious issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, depression, and forgetfulness. More often than not, though, snoring has a somewhat less serious cause, and there are plenty of ways you can turn it around. These don’t always mean you’re a snorer, though. The simplest way to tell for sure if you snore—and to determine just how severe your snoring is—is with an app like SnoreLab, which measures the duration and intensity (quiet, light, loud, or epic) of your snoring and offers suggestions on how to combat it. If you’re regularly in “loud” or “epic” territory, or if you ever wake up gasping for air, you should consult with your doctor ASAP to see if you have sleep apnea. Otherwise, you may be able to reduce or even stop your snoring at home using the following tips. Using the right pillow—one designed to prevent back sleeping—can also reduce snoring severity. If for some reason you can’t sleep on your side, at least elevate your head with an extra pillow or two, which can help open up your airways. Researchers came to this conclusion after discovering that choir singers scored significantly lower on the snoring scale than non-singers, even when weight and overall health were similar. In one study on 39 snorers,2 eight minutes of oropharyngeal exercises three times a day significantly reduced snoring intensity and number of snores per hour after three months. The best part? The exercises are seriously simple. One example: Push the tip of your tongue against your hard palate then slide it backward (repeat 20 times). “I have had some patients benefit from following a real-food or Whole30 diet,” says holistic psychiatrist Ellen Vora, M.D. “By eliminating foods like gluten and dairy, they reduced overall inflammation and improved airflow in the upper airways.” (Here are 11 more ways to keep inflammation in check through diet.) Of course, weight loss takes time, so consider implementing one or more of these other snoring strategies until you reach a healthy weight. Craniosacral therapy is an alternative treatment, often used by osteopaths and chiropractors, that utilizes light touch to subtly manipulate joints in the skull and sacrum to relieve tension and improve the functioning of the central nervous system. There have been no studies on craniosacral therapy and snoring, but some people think that it may help, in part, by alleviating sinus issues and promoting proper mucus flow. One super-soothing way to clear out your sinuses and breathe easier is by treating yourself to a facial steam. Right before bed, fill a large bowl with hot water and a few drops of peppermint essential oil. (The menthol in peppermint will help further soothe congestion3.) Drop your head over the steam and breathe in, with a towel behind you to lock in the moisture. Taking a steamy shower can have a similar effect. To ramp up the decongestant benefit, you can simultaneously diffuse peppermint essential oil with an essential oil diffuser while you sleep. Dehydration causes your mouth and nasal passages to become dry, which sets you up for snoring, along with a sore throat. Not drinking enough liquids can also cause mucus in the throat to thicken, which can further contribute to snoring. Alcohol relaxes you, which sounds like a good thing, but when it happens to the muscles in your throat and tongue, they become “floppier,” which worsens snoring. Many experts also advise against eating big meals shortly before bedtime, since a full stomach can push against your diaphragm and impair breathing, leading to snoring and making it harder to fall asleep. If you do make your way to a sleep specialist, it might be worth your while to ask for a sleep study in order to determine if you have sleep apnea. Some chronic snorers will need mouthpieces called oral appliances to keep air passages open and prevent snoring, while those with sleep apnea may need to wear a pressurized air mask called a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.
