Doctor prescribed solution

With surveys showing that 40% of American adults snore frequently, it is surprising why treatments for snoring are little known to many of us. The truth is, there are many things that you can do to aid problems such as sleep apnoea and snoring. One of the first things you should know about snoring is what are the factors that promote snoring? Snoring troubles can often be attributed to such factors as alcohol usage, weight gain, and the anatomy of a person’s jaw.

While there are a number of ways to treat snoring, there are also many snake-oil treatments out there that are not worth their salt when it comes to results. To treat the snoring problems you have, you must first diagnose the reasons for your personal troubles. One commonly effective technique to prevent snoring is losing weight. Since most cases of snoring are related to weight gain, then the act of just trimming the pounds back off can be a healthy remedy to the problem.

In many instances of snoring, the problem occurs only when the person sleeps on their back. If you decide that this could be the reason for your snoring problem, one of the simplest remedies would be to keep yourself off your back while you sleep. While it may be tough to get used to sleeping on your side, one common solution to get your body into the habit is to put a tennis ball in a sock and pin the sock to the back of your pyjama pants. This makes it uncomfortable to sleep on your back, so naturally, you will fall asleep on your side.

If you happen to be one of the not so lucky snorers who snore no matter WHAT position they may be sleeping in, fret not! There is still an answer to your dilemma. For these advanced cases of snoring, you can buy mouthpieces which reposition your jaw or tongue while you sleep, stopping the problem. If over-the-counter mouthpieces fail to solve your problem, dentists can specially fit you with a unique oral appliance which repositions your jaw or tongue exactly the way you need it to.

In the direct cases of snoring, where none of the above treatments can solve the problem, surgery may be necessary to correct your problem. If the problem involves a child, removing the adenoids and the tonsils is the proper surgical procedure for ending the snoring. However, in adults, there are a host of surgeries which might be used to correct the problem.

If your snoring problem is intense enough to get to the surgery stage, it is essential that you have your doctor screen you to test for sleep apnoea. Sleep apnoea is an issue where your body is not getting enough oxygen due to improper breathing during sleep, and snoring can be an “alarm” to get your body attentive to the concern, waking you up in the best solution. For this reason, it is crucial to check for apnoea, so that you aren’t cancelling out your body’s warning system – snoring.

Filed under: Snoring