Snoring is the most common sleep disorder, a full two-thirds of adults snore. But those snores don't just bother you at night, they can literally cause personal injury, and even lead to death. If you're currently snoring, it's time to make some changes. If not, these tips might help you stop snoring in the future. Either way, you should give them a try as they are backed by science and will probably work.
Here Are 7 tips that will stop snoring:
1.) Sleep on Your Side
Lying flat on your back is actually the best position for snoring, lasting up to eight minutes longer and increasing the volume of your snores. If you're going to stay in this position, however, make sure that you sleep on your side. Due to gravity, sleeping on your back causes the soft tissue at the back of your throat to collapse and obstruct your airway. This can also strain your heart as it has to work harder. Simply put, snoring is not worth it. One study shows that sleeping on your side can reduce the volume of snoring by up to 50%!
2.) Avoid Alcohol before Bedtime
Alcohol actually reduces muscle tone in your throat, which is one reason why you get the dreaded "morning-after" hangover. If you have a drink or two, this could cause you to snore more than usual for quite a few hours after drinking it. Not only will alcohol reduce muscle tone in your throat, leaving you susceptible to throat collapse and snoring, it's actually a depressant that leads to sleepiness.
3.) Avoid Caffeine
Caffeine can reduce muscle tone in your throat, leaving you prone to snoring. Not only that, it's one of the most common causes of insomnia, which is dangerous when it comes to sleeping. In fact, a study from the University of Leicester suggests that drinking two-to-four cups (240-480 millilitres) of caffeinated beverages daily could increase your risk for getting Alzheimer's disease by as much as 50%! [1]
4.) Decrease Your Weight by 10%
This tip isn't actually a sleeping tip per se, but rather a life tip. Excess weight is one of the main causes of snoring because it puts pressure on your tongue and soft tissues in your throat. If you can reduce your weight by just 10% (i.e. 15 pounds), this should greatly reduce or eliminate chronic snoring. In fact, according to an article published in the journal Sleep, about one-third of people who managed to lose even just 10% of their body weight eliminated their snoring symptoms altogether! [2]
5. ) Sleep on a Firm Mattress
While you might think this is the opposite of tip #1, it's actually an easy fix for the same problem. Sleeping on a soft mattress can make snoring worse by increasing the amount of relaxation in your throat and allowing it to collapse more easily. To avoid this, try sleeping on a firm mattress instead.
6.) Stop Smoking
Smoking has been linked to a number of health problems, including increased snoring. Smoking is actually one of the first things that causes inflammation in your body, which can cause snoring. It's also been linked to losing weight, obesity, and even high blood pressure. If you smoke, try quitting right away by making an appointment with an addiction professional such as a psychologist or a therapist.
7.) Stop Drinking Soda
This is merely common sense. Beverages with high amounts of sugar and caffeine increase the amount of acid in your body, which shortens the length of time it takes to fall asleep. There are many other reasons why you might be tired that night, but it could just be that your body is too acidic. This means you can control the acidity levels in your body with what you eat and drink.
If you're still drinking soda, try switching to diet soda instead. Diet soda has been shown to have the same effect on your body as regular soda and therefore will also likely increase snoring. Simply put, any sugary beverage will do the same thing so choose wisely or eliminate it from your diet all together!
