Snoring is noisy breathing through a partly blocked airway. It is common, it disrupts households, and in some people it is a sign that breathing is stopping during sleep.
Why the noise happens
The sound comes from the collapsible part of the airway, where the tongue and upper throat meet the soft palate and uvula. Those tissues vibrate when air has to squeeze past them. Snorers usually have at least one of these:
- Loose muscle tone in the tongue and throat, from alcohol, sedating medicine, or deep sleep
- Bulky tissue, including large tonsils and adenoids in children, or extra neck tissue with weight gain
- A long soft palate or uvula that flutters in the airstream
- A blocked nose, from allergy, a cold, sinus infection, or a crooked septum, which pulls the throat closed as you inhale
Occasional snoring is widespread and becomes more common with age, in men, and in people who carry extra weight. Gadgets that shock, strap, or prod a snorer rarely work, because snoring is not a habit you can decide to stop.
When it is more than noise
Heavy snoring disturbs the snorer's own sleep and is linked with high blood pressure at a younger age. The severe form is obstructive sleep apnea: loud snoring broken by pauses when airflow stops, even though the person is trying to breathe. Pauses longer than about 10 seconds, many times an hour, matter.
During those pauses, oxygen falls and the heart works harder. Over years that can mean irregular beats, higher blood pressure, and a larger heart. People with apnea often never reach deep sleep, so they wake unrefreshed and doze off while driving or working. A sleep study is often the only way to measure it, because the person asleep does not notice the pauses.
What to try at home
Mild or occasional snoring is worth a few weeks of simple changes:
- Move more, and lose weight if you have been advised to
- Skip alcohol for several hours before bed, and skip heavy meals late
- Skip sedatives, sleeping pills, and antihistamines at bedtime unless a doctor told you to take them
- Keep a regular sleep schedule
- Sleep on your side
- Raise the head of the bed a few inches by putting blocks under the headboard legs, not by stacking pillows only
If you snore in every position, if the noise is severe, or if anyone at home has seen breathing stop, those steps are not enough.
How an ENT treats it
We examine the nose, mouth, palate, throat, and neck. A sleep study shows how often breathing fails and what it does to oxygen. Treatment follows that result. It may be allergy or infection care, straightening a blocked nose, or removing tonsils and adenoids. Some adults need surgery that tightens loose palate tissue and opens the airway. If surgery is not the right choice, a mask that holds the airway open with air pressure (CPAP) is used at night.
A child who snores most nights should be examined. Enlarged tonsils and adenoids are a common cause, and removing them often changes sleep and daytime behavior.
Snoring is evaluated as part of our ear, nose, and throat care. Nasal allergy that only shows up in pollen season is covered in seasonal allergies.
