Snoring and Sleep Disorders

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Snoring is the hoarse or harsh sound that occurs when your breathing is partially obstructed while you're sleeping. Snoring can be a nuisance to your partner but sometimes snoring may indicate a serious health condition.

As many as half of adults snore sometimes. Snoring occurs when air flows past relaxed tissues in your throat, causing the tissues to vibrate as you breathe.

Problem snoring is more frequent in males and overweight persons, and it usually grows worse with age.

Lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, avoiding alcohol close to bedtime or sleeping on your side, can help stop snoring.

In addition, medical devices and surgery are available that may reduce disruptive snoring.

Depending on the cause of your snoring, your symptoms may include:

Noise during sleep
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Difficulty concentrating
Sore throat
Restless sleep
Gasping or choking at night
High blood pressure
Chest pain at night

When to see a doctor, see your doctor if:

Your snoring is so loud it's disrupting your partner's sleep
You wake up choking or gasping

These may indicate your snoring is caused by a more serious condition, such as obstructive sleep apnoea.

Children can suffer with obstructive sleep apnoea. Some children will snore loudly and have gaps in their breathing and will often lie in strange positions to help with breathing at night. They can be difficult to raise in the morning and can suffer from tiredness or lack of concentration during the day. Most childhood sleep apnoea is caused by enlarged tonsils and adenoids. A lot will improve with time but sometimes surgery to remove the tonsils and adenoids is required in severe cases.

What Causes Snoring?

The noisy sounds of snoring occur when there is an obstruction to the free flow of air through the passages at the back of the mouth and nose. One thing to remember from the outset is that the cause of your snoring is likely to be multifactorial.

People who snore may suffer from:

Poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat. When muscles are too relaxed, either from alcohol or drugs that cause sleepiness, the tongue falls backwards into the airway or the throat muscles draw in from the sides into the airway. This can also happen during deep sleep.
Excessive bulkiness of throat tissue. Children with large tonsils and adenoids often snore. Overweight people have bulky neck tissue, too. Cysts or tumors can also cause bulk, but they are rare.
Long soft palate and/or uvula. A long palate narrows the opening from the nose into the throat. As it dangles, it acts as a noisy flutter valve during relaxed breathing. A long uvula makes matters even worse.
Obstructed nasal airways. A stuffy or blocked nose requires extra effort to pull air through it. This creates an exaggerated vacuum in the throat, and pulls together the floppy tissues of the throat, and snoring results. So, snoring often occurs only during the hay fever season or with a cold or sinus infection.
Also, deformities of the nose or nasal septum, such as a deviated septum (a deformity of the wall that separates one nostril from the other) can cause such an obstruction.

Snoring and Sleep Disorders

Depending on the cause of your snoring, your symptoms may include:

When to see a doctor, see your doctor if:

What Causes Snoring?

People who snore may suffer from:

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