Why You Can’t Just Stop Snoring

Snoring and sleep apnea are prevalent sleep disorders that can significantly impact your relationships. Here’s why:

When you snore, your bed partner often loses more sleep than you do. This can lead to frustration and resentment, especially since the snorer is typically unaware of the disturbance. Over time, this can lead to separate bedrooms, straining intimacy and connection. The snorer, caught in the middle of this frustration, is often unable to address the problem effectively, leading to further tension and a growing rift.

Sleep apnea, a more severe condition, occurs when you repeatedly stop breathing during sleep—sometimes hundreds of times per night. This is usually due to an obstructed airway where relaxed throat tissues block airflow to the lungs. Sleep apnea is linked to numerous health issues, such as high blood pressure and heart disease.

Despite feeling like you’ve had a full night’s rest, sleep apnea deprives you of restorative sleep, leaving you with chronic fatigue. This sleep deprivation affects all aspects of life, including relationships, libido, mood, and your ability to handle unexpected changes.

Who’s At Risk for Sleep Apnea and Snoring?

Your risk for obstructive sleep apnea increases if you are overweight, male, have a family history of the condition, are over 65, or belong to certain ethnic groups such as Black, Hispanic, or Pacific Islander. Smoking also elevates your risk.

Other contributing factors include anatomical features like a thick neck, deviated septum, receding chin, or enlarged tonsils and adenoids. Relaxed throat muscles and nasal congestion due to allergies or other conditions can further exacerbate the problem, narrowing or blocking your airway.

Your mouth’s anatomy might also play a role. A low, thick soft palate or an elongated uvula (the tissue hanging from the back of your throat) can narrow the airway, leading to snoring or sleep apnea.

Who’s To Blame For Interrupted Sleep?

You have a higher risk for obstructive sleep apnea if you are overweight, male, elated to someone who has sleep apnea, over the age of 65, Black, Hispanic, or Pacific Islander, or a smoker.

Other sleep apnea and soring causes are having a thick neck, a deviated septum, a receding chin, or enlarged tonsils or adenoids. Your airway may be blocked or narrowed during sleep simply because your throat muscles are more relaxed than normal. Allergies or other medical conditions that cause nasal congestion and blockage can also contribute to the problem.

The anatomy of your mouth might be the culprit of your snoring or sleep apnea. A low, thick soft palate can narrow your airway or an elongated uvula (the triangular piece of tissue hanging from your soft palate) can constrict your airway or cause noisy vibrations.

Better Sleep Puts Energy Back Into Your Love Life

Depending on the severity of your snoring or sleep apnea disorder, Dr. Nancy Nehawandian of Top Down Dental in San Jose/Lost Gatos offers a wide variety of snoring and sleep apnea solutions.

Want to know how to stop snoring? Some very simple snoring remedies:

  • Lose weight – Even losing as little as 10 pounds may help.
  • Change your sleeping position – Sleeping on your side instead of your back may help keep your airway open.
  • Avoid alcohol – Alcohol can over relax your throat muscles, causing you to snore.
  • Don’t let yourself become overtired – If you are exhausted when you fall into bed, you are more likely to snore because you’ll sleep so deep your throat muscles over relax, just like when you drink alcohol.
  • Unclog your nasal passages – If you have a stuffed nose, less air can get through your nasal passages, causing snoring. Try a hot shower, a saltwater nasal rinse in the shower, or a neti pot to un-stuff your nose.
  • Get new pillows – Dust mites in old pillows can cause your nasal passages to become blocked, leading to snoring.
  • Drink lots of fluids – Mucus in your nose and secretions in your soft palate can become sticky if you are dehydrated. Drink lots of water during the day and you may snore less at night.

If these snoring remedies don’t resolve the problem or if you need sleep apnea solutions, Dr. Nancy Nehawandian of Top Down Dental in Los Gatos, can help treat your sleep disorder with an oral appliance, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), Provent or surgery.

Stop Snoring and Take Back Your Night

Unbroken, restorative sleep has been shown to be one of the most important factors in maintaining good health and well-being. So has a being in a loving, long-term relationship. Don’t let you snoring or sleep apnea threaten your health and your relationship anymore. A visit to Top Down Dental in Los Gatos will put you in touch with Dr. Nancy Nehawandian. Certified in sleep apnea and snoring appliances she’ll get to the root of your snoring causes and find the right sleep apnea solution for you. Contact our office at (408) 354-5600 today to learn more.