how can i stop or reduce snoring?

Answer 1

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How do doctors recognise sleep apnoea?

Your doctor will ask you for any history of disturbed sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, and loud snoring and/or long pauses in breathing reported by a bed partner. These signs are strongly suggestive of sleep apnoea but your doctor will need to refer you for further investigations before treatment can be started. Usually, these investigations are performed in a sleep laboratory and include:


Visual observation of sleep, to detect laboured breathing, with long pauses, followed by arousal from sleep.

Pulse oximetry, to measure the amount of oxygen in the blood and the pulse rate. The recording is taken for at least 8 hours overnight, and can be carried out at home. Multiple dips in oxygen level and peaks in pulse rate are found in people with sleep apnoea.
Polysomnography, which involves many measures of sleep, including eye movements and chin tone to define sleep stages, flow of air through the nose and mouth, movement of the chest wall, oxygen levels in the blood, and ECG (electrocardiography) to measure any serious abnormal heart rhythms.
How are snoring and sleep apnoea treated?

Self-care action plan

Some causes of snoring (listed above) are the result of lifestyle habits. By altering these habits, you can stop - or at least minimise - your snoring.

Try to maintain a healthy diet and weight. A healthy diet means eating a wide variety of foods from four main food groups:


bread, other cereals and potatoes
fruit and vegetables
milk and dairy foods
meat, fish and alternatives.
You should aim to eat five servings of fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables in your daily diet. You can also prepare meals in a more healthy way, for example baking or grilling foods instead of frying. This will not only reduce the fat in your throat tissues, but will also help improve your general health.

Regular exercise will improve muscle strength. If you are starting out begin with a 10-minute period of light exercise and gradually build from there. When you are ready, it is recommended that you exercise at least three to four times a week. Try to do 20–30 minutes a session. Those 30 minutes don't have to be continuous: we know that three 10-minute sessions of exercise each day is just as good. Occasional vigorous activity is unwise and possibly dangerous if you are 'out of shape'.

Factsheets on diet and weight and exercise are available and you can talk to your doctor about your ideal target weight, and regular exercise. Other measures include:

Always try to sleep on your side, instead of your back.
Avoid alcohol before bedtime.
Keeping the body in alignment, which could include raising the head of the bed, may help reduce snoring. This should be done by raising the head of the bed itself or by making sure that your pillow is at the correct height.
Medicines

If you have allergies that cause nasal congestion, try an oral or spray decongestant available from your chemist. Be careful not to use these over-the-counter (OTC) products on a long-term basis. If your nasal congestion doesn't clear up in a few days, see your doctor as you may need stronger medication, or other measures to clear your nasal passages. If your nasal congestion is caused by a structural problem in the nose such as a deviated septum, there are surgical techniques that can correct it.

If your doctor diagnoses sleep apnoea and none of the simple remedies are successful, he or she may recommend wearing an oxygen mask over your face while you sleep, to force air through your airway so that it won't close. This treatment is called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). However, this form of treatment may need to continue for months or years and some people find wearing a mask in bed every night difficult to tolerate.

Surgery

While making lifestyle changes should be the first step in treating your snoring, these measures are not always effective. If that is the case, you might want to consider a form of surgery called laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP). This relatively new procedure has been found to stop or reduce snoring in most people.

LAUP involves removal of excess tissue from your soft palate and uvula with a small, hand-held laser. The operation makes your airway larger, so vibrations are decreased. The procedure is performed under a local anaesthetic and takes about 30 minutes. Depending on the severity of your snoring, you may need more than one session – some people may need up to five or six sessions before their snoring is improved. If you need multiple treatments, they will likely be spaced four to six weeks apart.

In general, this surgery does not have serious side effects and you can continue your regular activities immediately after the procedure. Some people may have a sore throat for about one week. In a very few cases, laser surgery can raise or lower the pitch of the voice. Before you decide on laser surgery, talk it over with your doctor.

There are also several surgical options for sleep apnoea, depending on the cause:

If your sleep apnoea is caused by a jaw deformity, an operation to correct the deformity (which usually involves lengthening of the jaw bone) will be performed. This is successful in most people.
If no cause can be found for your sleep apnoea and it is not considered to be life-threatening, a procedure called uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) can be performed, where a surgeon trims and tightens throat tissues while you are under a general anaesthetic. However, this procedure has only a 30-50% success rate and can affect your ability to have CPAP therapy at a later date.
If your sleep apnoea is caused by large tonsils and/or adenoids, these can be removed in a simple operation called a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy.
What is the outcome of snoring and sleep apnoea?

Snoring is a mild annoyance for most people, but for those who snore habitually, it can cause serious social and marital discord. Usually, it can be remedied by lifestyle changes and/or surgery. Sleep apnoea is a more serious condition that can cause chronic illness if left untreated, but several effective treatment options are available.

Answer 2

First, don't sleep on your back. Second, if you are overweight, lose a few pounds. People who are overweight tend to snore more. Third, don't drink alcohol before bedtime. It makes it worse. And last, but not least, you need to rule out the possibility of sleep apnea. Some people who snore have a much more serious problem of actually stopping breathing when they sleep because of the obstruction of the tissue in the nasopharyx. This can cause high blood pressure, sudden heart attack and death. (Reggie White of the Green Bay Packers died of this). My husband was diagnosed with it and sleeps with a portable CPAP machine. It works! Talk to your doctor about it.

Answer 3

There's this pillow I saw the other day at Brookstones. It's supposed to reduce/stop snoring. It's abourt $30 dollars or so.

Answer 4

my husband bought those nose strips and that seems to work a little. at least he says he sleeps like a baby when he wears them, i can still hear him a little but its better. otherwise try to lay on your side or at least flat without being propped on a pillow, so that the airways are fully open. i usually just push my hubby and he either rolls over or i throw a pillow over at him, i know its mean but in the middle of the night i am mean because i hate snoring.

Answer 5

It could be many things, from deviated symptom to sleep apnea. go to either a Ear, nose and throat surgen to check for deviated symtom (which if u have it , it requires surgery) or a neurologist to have a sleep study done for possible sleep apnea. trust me, I have done both and treating it has changed my life for the better.
good luck

Answer 6

the number one cause for snoring is neck fat.. it is really.

p.s. JummpinJac, your adrenals are a part of your bood and metabolism, you probably have low adrenal function and taking adrenal support suplements will help. - I wanted to help you out more so I hunted you down :)

Answer 7

take a lot of vitamin C 3 two times a day for one month
defend and resist take two tablets for the next 2 weeks
http://www.shaklee.net/qualitylife/product/20613

Answer 8

Place a rubber ball under your waist when you go to bed. My mom tried it to my dad and it worked like a charm. .... It hurt so much that he wasn't able to sleep!!!! :)

Answer 9

lose weight, dont lay on your back, use breathe right strips and the breathe right throat lubricant, dont drink booze, stop smoking.