If you’ve ever waken up your partner while you were asleep due to a so-called breathing issue, then you may have already noticed you have a slight problem: You snore. And it’s more common than you think guys. In fact, approximately 45% of Americans snore on a normal basis.

If you’re a part of that 45% of Americans, you’ve probably wondered what you can do to stop the issue from reoccurring. I mean, you don’t want it to wake you up, and you sure as hell don’t want to make anyone sleeping near you uncomfortable and aggravated because they woke up in the middle of the night due to the loud noises coming from your nose/mouth. Phew! Rant over.

Well, if you have been looking for a quick fix to your snoring habits, you’ve come to the right place. I’m going to tell you all about how you can nip that old habit in the bud. Check out my suggestions below.

Use a nasal strip, or even a nasal dilator.

Nasal strips and nasal dilators help open your nasal passageways, therefore making it easier for air to get through the nasal cavity the normal way.

For instance, you can buy Breathe Right strips at any local drugstore. The Breathe Right strips help you out by having you attach the sticky sides of the strip to either side of your upper nose. Once they’re attached, they pull your airways open to make it easier for you to breathe while sleeping. Nasal dilators, on the other hand, go up your nostrils to help open them from the inside.

Use a mouthpiece.

Mouthpieces can be bought over-the-counter at any local drugstore, just like nasal strips and nasal dilators.

These mouthpiece devices work by repositioning your jaw and tongue in a way that will help open your airways. This, in turn, will omit snoring.

Change-up your sleeping position.

If you love to sleep on your back, you might want to change your sleeping position; sleeping on your back can promote snoring, and I’m pretty sure you came here to get rid of that habit.

Instead, try putting a pillow behind your back so that you don’t fall into the supine position (lying directly on your back).

Don’t drink alcohol before going to bed.

If you’re at all like me, this next suggestion is going to hurt you a little bit: Don’t drink booze before you go to bed. This is obviously especially hard on the weekends when you want to go out and drink with your friends or partner, but trust me when I say, you need to stop to break the habit.

In addition to avoiding alcohol, you should also try your best to stay away from sedation medications. Both alcohol and sedation medications act as respiratory depressants, therefore increasing your odds of snoring while sleeping.

If you need some tips to fall asleep fast, hop on the web and start Googling. I’m sure you’ll find a bunch of suggestions. Or, wait for my next article: Counting Sheep isn’t the Only Way to Fall Asleep Fast.

Use nasal spray or allergy medications, especially if you’re sick.

When allergy season hits, or when you’re starting to feel sick, your airways tend to get narrower. When they get narrower, breathing at night, and breathing while sleeping, gets more difficult. In turn, you start to snore, or you start to snore worse than you did before.

If you’re one of those people that snore only when your allergies kick in, or only when you start to get sick, head to the local drugstore and pick up some nasal spray and/or allergy medications.

If these suggestions fail, and if all other suggestions you’ve found fail, you might want to consider surgery.

I know, you didn’t want to hear that suggestion and I didn’t want to write it for you to read it. Why? Well, because thinking about having surgery because you have bad snoring habits is rather scary, but it is an option for those of you out there considering it.

Though surgery is an option that some people consider, many medical professionals out there state that this should be the last thing a person should think about doing if they snore a lot. They should at least try everything they possibly can, especially considering the surgery is not done often, therefore it’s a little more expensive than people would have originally thought.

However, sometimes people cannot help that they snore all the time. Such people probably have something known as upper airway crowding. If this is the case, they may be a valid candidate for an uvulopalatopharyngeoplasty. This procedure would require the surgeon to remove the uvula and its surrounding tissue to open the airways permanently.

Another reason to have such surgery is if the person has a deviated septum. In this case, the person would have to have a septoplasty.

If you do decide to get one of these surgeries, or another surgery, you do have to consider that there may be complications such as bleeding or infection. Medical professionals only recommend doing this if it’s an absolute necessity.

With all of that being said, I hope you can weigh your options and figure out what’s best for you and your snoring habits. In my opinion, all the above suggestions are worth trying, and surgery should be left as the last thing to do. Then again, I don’t know what you, your partner, or your family members go through on a nightly basis, so the decision is all yours!

Be sure to check out my next article as mentioned above!

 

By Jenny Lyn