How to stop snoring is a very popular question to a very common problem affecting nearly everyone at some time in their life.
When you are asleep your muscles become relaxed.
This is to stop you acting out your dreams.
This includes the soft tissues in the throat such as the tonsils, soft palate and the uvula.
Snoring occurs when these tissues flop back down into the airways making a vibrating sound as air rushes past them through the narrowed air passages.
Sleeping on your back can make this worse as the throat muscles are much more likely to drop back into your airways.
If you tend to end up sleeping on your back try putting a pillow against your side to stop you rolling over and to help you stop snoring.
Having a cold or allergy can make the nasal passages swell causing them to narrow.
If you have a cold or are blocked up due to an allergy try inhaling a few drops of eucalyptus oil in a bowl of steaming not water.
This will really help your breathing and make sleeping more comfortable.
An allergy to dust mites will cause the nasal passages to swell up.
If you have a sensitivity to them consider changing any feather pillows to non allergenic ones.
Also make sure you vacuum your mattress as they can harbour bed bugs and dust mites and clean the bedding regularly.
Don't forget to vacuum under the bed.
It's surprising how much dust can gather underneath your bed.
If you have pets try and keep them off the bed at night as dust from their fur can cause irritations.
A glass of wine in the evening may help you to unwind and relax, but drinking too much can make your throat muscles too relaxed causing them to spread and flop back down into the throat when you are asleep.
Smoking irritates the lining in the nasal passages and throat causing the membranes to swell.
If you can't give smoking up completely try not to smoke at least 3 hours before you go to bed.
This will give your body time to recover from the effects of the smoke.
Some medication such as sleeping tablets can make you snore as like alcohol they relax the muscles including those in the neck and throat too much thus making the airways narrow.
Obesity is a major cause of snoring.
If you are overweight you will have increased fat tissues around the neck and throat.
During sleep these tissues flop about in the throat making the airways narrower and causing you to snore.
Being overweight is a risk to your health as well as making you snore.
Losing weight is the obvious solution to help you stop snoring.
Take up some type of exercise to help you get back into shape.
You don't need to join a gym to keep fit, a brisk walk over the park each day would be a great start and combined with a healthy low fat diet you will soon start to lose weight.
Join a local weight loss group such as Weight Watchers for the support of others.
It's often easier to keep motivated if you are part of a group.
If you are a middle aged male you are much more likely to snore.
This is because as you age your muscles become less toned and start to become flabby.
Men also tend to have narrower throat and nasal passages than women.
Weight gain is common amongst middle aged men resulting in thicker neck and throat tissues.
Women are less likely to snore as they produce progesterone which has been found to inhibit snoring and some anti snoring products actually contain progesterone as a base ingredient.
However as women approach the menopause progesterone production declines and this may be a reason why mature women are more susceptible to snoring.
HRT can regulate the hormones but natural alternatives can be tried as well such as Black Cohosh and Wild Yam.
Nasal strips can be used as an effective method to stop snoring as they keep the airways open during sleep making breathing much easier.
They are easy to apply and non invasive.
Nasal sprays can be effective if used sparingly, however they can make you more blocked up if you use them too much.
By following a few simple guidelines it is possible to have a good night's sleep and put an end to your snoring.