Most people snore every now and then. It can be affected by how tired we are, whether we’ve had an alcoholic drink, our weight and even the position in which we sleep.
The habit can also be irritating for people who have to listen to it, with a recent survey by Get Laid Beds showing that 61 percent of people think it’s the worst bedtime habit you can have.
However, in some cases snoring can be more than just an annoying habit, as chronic snoring could signal that something is seriously wrong.
This could be a sign of a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
Sleep coach and founder of Snuzzze, Charli Davies, revealed five signs you need to see a doctor about your snoring.
These are:
- If your snoring has a huge impact on your own sleep quality
- If you find difficulty in maintaining a desired level of wakefulness
- If you are constantly having morning headaches
- If you have trouble with concentration or memory
- If you have gained weight recently.
If you are suffering from OSA it is likely your snoring will be loud followed by periods of silence when breathing stops or nearly stops.
You might also experience a sore throat upon waking up, gasping or choking at night, high blood pressure and chest pain at night.
The condition can even affect children, leading to poor attention span, behavioural issues or poor performance in school.
According to the NHS, you should see your GP if you experience any of these symptoms and think you have OSA.
You might be able to treat it by making the relevant lifestyle changes, but in more serious cases you will need a CPAP machine to ensure you are breathing correctly at night.
Lifestyle changes
Changing your lifestyle might be enough to prevent your snoring.
Charli shared some of the steps we can take to see an improvement.
She said: “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.”
You could also try adjusting your sleeping position, with lying on your back typically the worst for snoring.
“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,” Charli added.
“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 rolling onto your back in the night.”
The NHS also advises taping or stitching a tennis ball to the back of your sleepwear to prevent you from sleeping on your back.