A staggering 30 million Britons are grappling with the repercussions of snoring, a disturbance that risks leading to grievous conditions like obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). More than just an annoyance disrupting our night’s peace, snoring may flag severe sleep deprivation and potential health issues, highlighting the need for professional medical advice.
Get Laid Beds reveals statistics on people’s grievances with their partners’ nocturnal disruptions. The study shows that a hefty 61% rank snoring as the ultimate sleep-stealer, trumping even restless slumberers and midnight wanderers of the sleepwalking variety. Indeed, the report points out that 77% of those in the UK have bemoaned their bedfellow’s raucous respiration.
Charli Davies, the founder of Snuzzze, said: “It doesn’t surprise me that snoring is at the top of the ick list. It’s the bane of millions of people’s lives and the cause of less-than-decent sleep. Why so many people snore and the cause of some of the other icks, in my opinion, are down to our overall lifestyle, from what we eat to the amount of alcohol we drink.”
Five signs your snoring should be checked by a doctor
- Your snoring seriously disrupts your ability to get quality sleep
- Staying alert throughout the day becomes a struggle
- You encounter frequent morning headaches
- Memory or concentration problems begin to manifest
- Recent weight gain could be a contributing factor to snoring
Making changes to your lifestyle could be the key to tackling your snoring problems. If you’re a frequent drinker, the most effective strategy is to avoid alcohol close to bedtime or even quit altogether.
Charli explained: “It goes without saying then that we can reduce snoring by avoiding alcohol and leading a generally healthy lifestyle. Alcohol relaxes the muscles and this goes for the muscles in our throats too. This means that your throat can relax too much as you’re sleeping and collapse in as you breathe, which causes snoring.
“Sleeping pills can have the same effect as alcohol too you might become over relaxed and the same thing will happen. Maintaining a healthy weight reduces any weighing down on your airway preventing air to flow in and out easily.”
For those trying home remedies, one of the easy fixes they can look to is changing sleep position such as avoiding sleeping on their back.
Charli said: “The trick I think most people are aware of to reduce snoring is changing sleep position from our backs to our sides, although this doesn’t always help. I think most of us achieve this with a dig to the ribs or pushing the person we’re sharing a bed with.
“But if we want to avoid this and reduce waking those that we share a bed with, putting a pillow behind our back can stop you rolling onto your partner in the night.”