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Snoring is a problem. Just talk to the person who lives
with someone who snores. Or to the person who snores and
wakes up tired in the morning.
Snoring is the raspy, noisy sound produced by the
vibration of the soft tissues lining the air passages as the
lungs work to pull air through obstructed airways.
While most people snore occasionally, men are 50 percent
more likely to snore than women, and most people who do
snore are middle-aged and overweight. The problem worsens
with age.
For most people, snoring is caused by multiple
factors--narrowing or blockage of the upper airway passages
through anatomical or injury reasons, or congestion of the
soft tissues of the airway from smoking, use of alcohol,
acid reflux, obesity, and aging.
If you snore or you are accused of snoring, you should be
aware of some of the contributing factors to snoring.
"Medications, such as sleeping pills, cold medicines, and
antihistamines can relax bronchial passage muscles enough to
cause snoring, even in people who don't generally snore,"
says Mark Dyken, M.D., director of UI Hospitals and Clinics
Sleep Disorders Clinic. Other culprits include overly soft
pillows, sleeping on your back, obesity, and poor muscle
tone. "Smoking irritates the airways and can make snoring
worse," he says. "Ailments such as asthma that constrict
bronchial airways can also lead to snoring."
In some cases snoring can indicate a breathing problem
while sleeping (obstructive sleep apnea). "Apnea" is a Greek
word meaning without air. Loud snoring is interrupted with
pauses in breathing, followed by loud gasps resulting in
poor quality sleep and reduced intake of oxygen.
Sleep apnea may be as mild as snoring or can be as severe
as having pauses in breathing that may last up to 10 seconds
at a time. Sleep apnea affects 5 to 10 percent of the
population. Very loud, chronic snoring is usually the first
sign of obstructive sleep apnea.
For more information about snoring and sleep apnea, call
UI Health
Access, 319-384-8442, ext. 1003, or 800-777-8442, ext.
1003.
Check it out
The noisy snorer needs a thorough physical examination of
the nose and throat that should include a sleep study.
Treatment options include:
- Adopting regular sleep habits
- Discontinuing pre-sleep alcohol, over-the-counter
sleep aids, and any unnecessary medications
- Stop smoking
- Positional therapy (sleeping sideways using a tube
sock filled with tennis balls sewn on the back of one's
pajamas)
- Elevating the head of the bed
- Surgery (nasal, palatal, tongue, or neck, depending
on the origin of the snoring)
- Dental devices and nasal appliances
- Continuous positive airway pressure therapy (if
diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea)
Letting the non-snorer go to sleep first may help limit
the complaints.
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For more information:
Listed above are several Web sites that offer additional
information on this topic. University of Iowa Health Care
does not sponsor or endorse these sites, or guarantee the
accuracy of the information contained on these sites. These
links are here for general information only, and should not
be used for personal diagnosis or treatment. If you have any
questions, please contact UI
Health Access.
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