Snoring Affects Everyone

How to stop snoring? That's a big question, and its a question for most of America. According to a 2002 poll by The National Sleep Foundation, about 40% of adult men and 24% of adult women are habitual snorers. That’s a lot of us who are making a lot of noise in our sleep. For those of us who are not snoring, chances are we sleep with a partner who snores.

The problem with snoring isn’t just the noise and disruption to your partner. It’s also doing a number on your health.

Risks to Habitual Snorers

Heart Disease
Sudden Death from Arrhythmia
Daytime Tiredness
Morning Headaches
Lower Testosterone and Libido
Reduced Immune System
Fatigue
Dementia
Mental Fogginess
Type 2 Diabetes
Weight Gain
Depression
Death

What makes the snoring sound?

When you crawl into bed, get comfy and start to drift off to sleep, its not just your brain that’s starting to relax. Its all your muscles, including those in your throat. When those muscles relax, your tongue falls back and your throat becomes more narrow. With every breath, in and out, the walls of your throat vibrate. This causes your classic, and sometimes humorous, snoring sound.

The narrower the airway, the greater the vibration and often the louder the sound. In some cases the air way completely collapses causing lapses in breath, this is known as sleep apnea.

The Importance of Restorative Sleep

The importance of sleep has been in the news a lot lately. This TED Talk is by sleep scientist Matt Walker. He shares well documented consequences of poor sleep.

During sleep, every part of your body and your brain is working to repair itself. There are five stages of sleep. Restorative sleep comes when you complete these five stages. As you can imagine, if your stages of sleep are being interrupted by snoring and/or lack of oxygen you’re not completing your sleep cycle. This means you’re not getting restorative sleep. Your body and brain do not get what they need to make their nightly repairs. All the more reason to learn how to stop snoring. Don't worry, we can help.

Don't I need a sleep study if I snore?

Not necessarily. When you come see us at Texas Sinus & Snoring for snoring issues we may or may not send you for a sleep study. First, we want to make sure you have an open nasal airway. A sleep study cannot tell us this.

There are two important reasons to find out if you have an open nasal airway. First, if you do have sleep apnea, the first thing the sleep medicine physician will want to do is fit you for a mask. If your nose doesn't work, you will be at a high risk of failing the CPAP trial.

Second, for many snorers, fixing a significant nasal blockage may fix the problem entirely. Often times Dr. Cilento can see exactly what the problem is, right from a CT scan done in the office at the time of your visit.

How to Stop Snoring

If you or your partner snore, the best solution is to come in for a comprehensive exam. Snoring can be caused by blockage at any combination of three levels in the airway; the nose, the palate and the tongue. We can’t decipher the culprit without an exam. In the mean time there are a few things you can do to help with snoring issues.

Loose Weight
Sleep on your side instead of your back
Avoid alcohol as it tends to relax the throat muscles
Treat allergies

In office we have many solutions depending on what is causing your snoring. These could include injection snoreplasty, UPPP, Inspire Sleep Therapy, tongue and throat procedures, and dental appliances, among others.

Request an Appointment...

Do you or your partner snore? If so, we can help. Please fill out the form below and we'll reach out to you to schedule an appointment.