Snoring: causes and treatment

As you already know, snoring is the name forrn that loud breathing that happens when the person sleeps. It is irritatingrn and also very unhealthy. Everyone in this world knows at least one personrn who snores, in more cases it is a man, but it happens to women also. Withrn age, it can become much more serious and it disturbs the person who snoresrn equally as the person who is sleeping beside her.

Causes

Snoring itself happens when the air which you are inhaling makes the softrn part of your palate and other tissues in your mouth to vibrate. It isrn caused by the turbulence of your airways while you are inhaling. Thern turbulence is caused by the partial air blockade which can be anywhere, from your nostrils all the way to your vocal cords. Snoring can be heardrn only during sleeping because that is the time when muscle tones in yourrn airways get lower. The causes are:

Allergies and nose deviation

When you have allergies, your nasal mucosa can swell and your upper airwaysrn can become sore which hinders the air flow. The same goes for nosern deviation as well.

Enlarged uvula

Uvula is the tingly thing in the back of your throat. When it is largerrn than it should be, it narrows the hole between your nose and your throat. When your soft palate and your uvula vibrate, they touch each other andrn again hinder the air flow.

Sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder where your breathing is briefly interrupted. Thern apnea is the name for that breathing pause which can last up to 10 seconds. This happens when the muscles which are placed in the back of your throatrn fail to keep the airway open. This form is called obstructive sleep apnea, but you also have the central sleep apnea, which is the state where yourrn brain fails to control your breathing. This problem can be treated byrn using CPAP machinern . This machine opens your airway with positive pressurern through a nasal mask which you wear during sleep.

Poor muscle tone in your throat and tongue

Since your muscles are more relaxed than they should be, your tongue fallsrn backwards and blocks the airway. Drinking alcohol or sleepy drugs canrn deteriorate this problem even more.

Bulky throat tissue

This refers to children with large tonsils and adenoids as well as thern overweight people with excess soft neck tissue. Your airway gets much morern narrow which causes you to snore. Also, the narrowing can happen if yourn have a cyst or tumor as well.

Types of snoring

· Closed mouth snoring – usually happens to people who have problems withrn their tongue

· Open mouth snoring – usually related to tissues in your throat

· Sleeping on your back snoring – This is a mild form of snoring which canrn be reduced by changing your sleep habits and lifestyle

· Snoring in all positions – This is a severe form of snoring and you needrn to have some sort of treatment

Treatment

Luckily, there are many available treatments for snoring nowadays. Some ofrn them are:

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP)

This is a surgery where the doctors remove excess soft palate tissue whichrn causes the airways to open. The remaining tissue gets stiffer when it healsrn which minimizes the vibration. You can also enlarge the air passage withrn adding tonisillectomy to the procedure.

Thermal ablation

This procedure reduces bulkiness of your nasal turbinates, tongue base andrn soft palate. There are many different methods for this: bipolar cautery, lasers or radiofrequencies. You will need several treatments in order forrn it to work.

Genioglossus and hyoid advancement

This is a treatment meant for sleep apnea. It pulls the muscles from yourrn tongue forward which causes prevention of lower throat collapse and opensrn the obstructed airway.

Custom fit oral appliances

This repositions your lower jaw forward. For this treatment you should seern an otolaryngologist, dentist or an oral surgeon who has an expertise inrn sleep dentistry.

Self-help

This means to lose some weight, start eating healthy and embrace thern athletic lifestyle which will develop your muscle tone, avoid sleepingrn pills or tranquilizers at all costs, heavy meals, alcohol and snacks beforern bedtime are also a no-no’s. Sleep on your side and elevate your head whilern you sleep for at least 4 inches. Of course, this refers to people whorn suffer from occasional or mild snoring issues.

It is revealed that one-third of older adults suffer from some form ofrn snoring. If you snore, make sure that you identify the cause and find thern way to cure it as soon as possible.