Snoring - Physical Causes of Snoring

Whenever a serious case of snoring occurs, the temptation is to look to a cause in dietary factors. It could be that the patient eats a diet too concentrated in saturated fat, or consumes an excessive amount of alcohol, or smokes. Whilst these are contributory factors in many cases of snoring and even a direct cause in many others, there are many other physical factors, which can influence the development of a snoring problem. Even the simple factor of your position on the bed while sleeping is a potential source of problems. People who usually sleep on their back are far more at risk of snoring than those who sleep on their side. This is because fatty tissue often falls back to restrict the air passages.

Someone breathing through their mouth, rather than their nose, whilst asleep causes one of the most common types of snoring problem. Proper breathing, through the nose, has the air pass smoothly through the soft part of the throat with very little irritation. This is the natural way to breathe. When people breathe through the mouth, however, the air makes no natural passage through soft tissue, instead hitting the throat at an unnatural angle and in a way that carries excessive force. This can be one of the most difficult types of snoring problem to combat, as the cause of the problem occurs while the patient is asleep and therefore unaware of the problem.

Allied to breathing through the mouth is nasal stiffness. This is because the most common cause for people to breathe unnaturally through the mouth is a restriction in the flow of natural nose breathing. If nasal stiffness is a factor in your condition, you will need to take some steps to try and overcome it. The traditional treatment of inhaling steam is effective and without side effects. Also available are natural herbal nasal sprays, which are safe to try. If these remedies fail, you will need to seek qualified medical help. A doctor can prescribe medicines called antihistamines, although these can have severe side effects.

The nostrils themselves can be a major factor in how well a person breathes at night and consequently a factor in any snoring condition. Nostrils can be naturally small, they can collapse, or they can be obstructed or congested. Any of these factors sets up a kind of resistance to the normal natural breathing pattern of breathing smoothly through the nose. The quality of sleep is severely affected by any restriction to this natural breathing. This lack of oxygen to the brain can cause impaired sleep patterns, resulting in reduced relaxation and lead to excessive tiredness during the waking hours.

One of the most common and most effective treatments for these kind of physical problems is to use a nasal dilator. These nasal dilators have become extremely popular, because as well as being effective, they are also completely safe and have no unpleasant side effects. To see if a dilator is likely to help your own condition, you can do a test in front of a mirror. Close one nostril and with your mouth closed, see if your breathing is clear. If your breathing is restricted and becomes clearer by holding the nostril open, there is a strong chance that a dilator will help. This one simple little device has solved the problems of so many snoring sufferers. It is well worth a try to see if it could solve your problems as well.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Snoring