What Is Sleep Snoring

Snoring is something that is becoming quite common these days. A recent American study has shown that 50% of all men and 40% of all women have snored at least once in their adult life. Not really being a disease to be worried over, snoring can become a plague for our personal life. It can cause embarrassment, create gulfs in relationships, and really take its toll on your self-esteem as well. The matter can be helped if you gain some insight into the reality of snoring.

Snoring is caused by the collapsing of the muscles around and leading to the airways. When the air passage to the lungs, the body will make an extra effort to gain that oxygen and the resulting force that opens the air ways is what causes the snoring sound.

The muscles along the passage to the lungs may collapse for a myriad of reasons. And anyone can have a snoring episode of varying degree, if you've ever closely observed a sleeping child, you may have noticed some very light snoring. So this is nothing age related. Here are some reasons that may be causing you to snore in your sleep.

1. Sleeping on your back: one of the main reasons that people snore is because they sleep on their back. Sleeping on your back literally makes the muscles of the airway collapse flat o the floor. This makes breathing more difficult and hence you tend to snore. Try sleeping on your side. It's not only more comfortable, it will cause a significant decrease in your snoring.

2. Uncomfortable sleeping position: if you don't really make the effort to get comfortable in bed while you sleep and will hit the hay at any whatever angle, your body is probably snoring to get back at you. Jokes aside, sleeping at awkward angles makes breathing difficult, in turn to continue to bring oxygen to the lungs, your muscles will exert greater force and you'll be snoring loud enough to wake the dead. Take sleep time seriously; get into bed in a comfortable state of mind and in a comfortable position. Use a nice fluffy pillow that will raise your head slightly. Dress in loose clothing as well. Even if you are settling in for an hour's nap, make sure your body gets rested properly.

3. Alcohol: alcohol can over-relax the body muscles. If you tend to drink before going to bed, this could be the main reason for your snoring. Also, if you are a heavy drinker, then again, you have a have a good reason to stay away from the bottle. Avoid drinking at least an hour or two before going to bed. Better yet, take some warm milk to clear your throat.

4. Dairy Products: if you take a glass of warm milk right before bed to help sleep faster, this may be causing you to snore. Dairy products cause mucus build up in the airways and thus obstruct the airways. This leads to snoring. Try taking a cup of warm water instead. And save the milk for the afternoon maybe.

• John Palsson
• 28/11/2008, 10:59 PM
• 0 Comments