By Dr Viny Kantroo
Is snoring a medical problem?
Snoring is a hoarse or harsh sound produced by air passing through relaxed tissues in your throat, causing the tissues to vibrate as you breathe. Everybody snores now and then, but for some, it is a chronic problem. It can also indicate a serious medical condition. Snoring does not always indicate a medical condition, but it can be a sign of a serious sleep disordered breathing, such as obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is distinguished by loud snoring followed by a brief period of silence due to a pause in breathing causing reduced oxygen levels and fragmented sleep.
When does snoring become a serious problem?
Snoring which disrupts your sleep due to obstruction in breathing, can leave you tired the next day because of frequent arousals in night. Sleep apnea is a potentially fatal condition if not detected and treated in time. Sleep apnea occurs when you stop breathing for at least 10 seconds for a 30 second recording time. Anybody having more than 5 episodes of this stoppage of breath per hour on average with other daytime symptoms conforms to obstructive sleep apnea. This insufficient and inefficient sleep can make one difficult to concentrate and complete daily tasks. Long-term complications of untreated sleep apnea can include metabolic disease, enlarged heart, high blood pressure and sometimes sudden death.
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Does the way we sleep or bedding we use affect snoring?
You may be more prone to snoring if you sleep on your back. This happens because the airway is more prone to collapsing due to both internal and external factors (such as the weight of your neck or chest pressing down). Gravity makes it easier for these tissues to migrate into the throat, obstructing adequate airflow. Sleeping on your side may be just what you need to improve your breathing and rest. Studies, including one involving 21 people who snored but did not have sleep apnea, show that sleeping on your side can significantly reduce the amount of time spent snoring and the intensity of snoring.
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Any tips to not snore?
Preparing for bed and making a few changes to your sleeping habits can help prevent or reduce snoring. You can try the below mentioned suggestions:
- Maintain a healthy weight and diet pattern.
- Don’t drink alcohol or take sedatives (without consultation with a doctor) right before going to bed.
- Constant sleep times do help a lot to maintain your sleep/wake rhythms.
- Get an ENT check for any obstructions in nose and pharynx causing snoring which can be treated medically and sometimes surgically.
- Instead of sleeping on your back, try sleeping on your side.
- Facial exercises in form of focused tongue and chin exercises to increase tone of muscles is helpful in many cases
- Certain medical conditions like hypothyroidism can be cause sometimes for reduced tone/ slow tongue movements causing excessive snoring. If present these are treatable
- Keep your diabetes under control.
Can snoring be cured?
Every heavy snorer does not need treatment and every light snorer is a potential obstructive sleep apnea patient. So, if you have loud snoring which disrupts your sleep, causing excessive daytime sleepiness/tiredness, weight gain and inability to engage properly in exercise, uncontrolled hypertension, frequent arousals in night, you need to see a sleep specialist. Your doctor may recommend a sleep study and may prescribe continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to eliminate excessive snoring and curing obstructive sleep apnea. A CPAP machine applies just enough pressure through a mask to keep your upper airway passages open, thereby preventing obstructions at night which are the reason for excessive snoring and sleep apnea.
Dr Viny Kantroo is consultant, respiratory, critical care and sleep medicine, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, New Delhi