What Causes Snoring

There is no single cause of snoring, and people can develop the condition for different reasons. Basically, anything that makes the soft palate vibrate and the airway constrict while you are sleeping will cause snoring. Usually, this happens because something is blocked. Maybe you are congested, or the muscles in your throat and in the back of your mouth are excessively relaxed. Maybe it is just because you are growing older and some of your muscles are loosening up. In fact, some of the causes of snoring are still unknown to science today. Fortunately, there are many treatments that do work to some degree.

Because blocking of the nasal airway is the most frequent cause of snoring, anything that opens up it will help to treat it. One of my favorite anti-snoring treatments is to use nasal strips when I go to sleep. I've been snoring for years, and it still drives my wife crazy. Usually, she just elbows me to half wake me up, tells me to stop snoring, and lets me go back to sleep. When I use the nasal strips, however, I don't have the same problem with nasal congestion while I sleep. This treats the cause of snoring, making a quieter, sounder night of sleep. My wife sleeps better because my snoring doesn't wake her up, and I sleep better because my wife doesn't wake me up. In the end, everyone wins.

Of course, sometimes the cause of snoring is a little bit harder to treat. For example, obesity is one of the more common causes of snoring in America today. Being overweight causes fat to build up around the throat, constricting the airways more than usual. This can contribute to other conditions such as a deviated septum, resulting in much more frequent snoring. There is no easy fix for it. You simply have to lose the weight. They can take a long time, especially when you're not sleeping well. Since stress can contribute to bad lifestyle choices and sleeplessness can contribute stress, sometimes the cause of snoring is also a cause of continuing obesity. It really can be a vicious cycle.

Another common cause of snoring is drinking too much. I know when I've had a lot to drink, my wife always complain to me the next day that I snored all night. I think that it relaxes my throat somehow, making me snore more. I've actually had to cut back because I come down with sleep apnea when I go to bed drunk enough. That is a really scary feeling. You wake up in the middle of the night, suddenly unable to breathe. Any cause of snoring which is sufficiently powerful can cause sleep apnea. Fortunately, a stop snoring treatment can cure it.