Amanda is a prolific writer on health and lifestyle for national magazines – as well as Editor of UK Health Radio and contributor to the Jeremy Vine show.
Is snoring driving you to distraction?
Are you a snorer or trying to get a good night’s sleep next to one?
Well here are some ideas you might want to try before you lose your mind!
Treatment for snoring
Snoring has been responsible for a lot of arguments in the bedroom and even some divorces. Although it’s often seen as the butt of a joke, it’s no laughing matter if snoring progresses to become sleep apnoea.
Making changes to your lifestyle can help to relieve the effects of snoring but there are other treatments that you can try too.
Lifestyle changes
Some lifestyle suggestions that will relieve the effects of snoring are:
- Losing weight
- Avoiding alcohol especially just before bed
- Not smoking
- Taking regular exercise that will strengthen neck muscles
Devices that help reduce snoring
If snoring persists even after lifestyle changes have been made then you could try anti-snoring devices that can be bought at any of the larger pharmacies or by following our links below.
Unfortunately there isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ solution out there, but below are some of the most popular and effective ones. Or you can click the link below to find the best selling anti-snoring treatments available at Amazon.
Nasal Strips
When snoring originates inside the nose, nasal-strips or nasal-dilators might help.
Nasal strips are narrow pieces of self-adhesive tape look like sticking-plasters. The nasal strip is fixed on the outside of the nose and keeps the nostrils open, keeping them from narrowing. This should stop snoring during sleep.
Click to buy anti-snoring nasal strips at Amazon
Nasal Dilators
The nasal dilator is a plastic or metal device that looks something like a nose-ring. Placed inside the nose before sleep it pushes the nostrils apart to stop snoring.
Click for anti-snoring nasal dilators at Amazon
The Chin Strap
If snoring is from the mouth, try a chin-strap where tape is placed on the underside of the chin. This helps by stopping the mouth opening while you are asleep.
The Vestibular Shield
This device is like a gum shield and is fitted in the mouth blocking the flow of air and forcing breathing through the nose so that the mouth stays shut, during sleep, and snoring is reduced.
There is not very much scientific evidence to favour any of these devices over any other, so trial and error will probably be the best approach.
The Mandibular Advancement Device (MAD)
As air passes over the base of the tongue, it can cause vibrating. In which case something called a mandibular advancement device might help.
Designed to push the tongue and jaw forward, it increases space at the back of the throat making the airway wider so that the vibration caused by air passing over the tongue is reduced.
One of these devices costs about £30- £50 and will give relief in most cases of snoring that are not also associated with other breathing difficulties such as sleep apnoea.
As we said, there’s some science behind each of these solutions, but we’re all slightly different so you might have to trial-and-error one or two before you find a solution that works for you.
In the meantime, good luck – and hopefully persistence will pay dividends in the end!
