Smoking induced risks include high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke. Impaired flow of air to the lungs, take a toll on the functioning of heart and vascular system, increasing the stress-level resulting in them over working. What is more worrying is, the ignorance of the person who snores, without realizing that his snore can be a serious condition and also that it’s disturbing his sleep. When you have a disturbed sleep or reduced sleeping time, due to snoring it also adversely affects the person’s driving capabilities increasing accident toll by up to 7%.
Treatments for Snoring: Your family physician may be able to analyze the risk factors if any associated with snoring and recommend treatment if needed from one of the many sleep clinics. positive life style changes to medical devices and minor surgery.
Lifestyle changes to reduce or eliminate snoring: Personal physician might suggest the following lifestyle changes that help in combating snoring like:
Reduce Weight: excessive weight is one of the main reasons for snoring. Your doctor might be able to suggest an efficient way to manage your weight. So, if you want to learn how to stop snoring, reduce your weight.
Exercise: Physical activity keeps your weight under check and also keeps you healthy and gives you a sound sleep. Physical exercises likewalking, jogging, running and hiking improve your quality of sleep. Just remember to avoid strenuous exercise at least three hours before sleeping.
Quit smoking: Smoking and second-hand smoke make symptoms worse because of throat irritation and coughing at night, leading to snoring.
Good Sleep Hygiene: To promote a sound and undisturbed sleep scheduling time for sleeping and waking up is ideal. Tiredness due to lack of sleep resulting in snoring can be avoided by going to bed and rising at the same time each day.
Avoid alcohol and sleeping pills: Alcohol and certain medications such as sleep aids and some pain medications, can make throat muscles relax more than usual leading to narrowing and obstructions. These make things worse by not allowing your brain to be alert thus the duration is prolonged even more.In the long run it causes severe damage to the body.
Sleep side-ways: Scientists have found, sleeping with back rested on the bed enables gravity to narrow airways further more and increase snoring.
In most of the severe cases, sleep disorder clinics are suggested to assess and give their observations and test results, which they do at-home of the patient or at their clinic. Treatments include breathing devices such as CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) equipment. The equipment acts like a filter air blower than takes in air and sends it via funnels into a mask to regulate the pressure which will be determined by your physician. This equipment is typically worn over your nose and the specified pressure enables smooth and free airflow thus reducing snoring.
Alternative treatment options include a dental device which is worn during the sleeping hours, to expand the airways by holding the haw and tongue in place. Radio wave treatments are recommended method of treatment which reduces the size of tissue in the throat or tongue and surgeries that reduce the tissues in the nose, uvula, and palate (roof of mouth) or the bony tissues in the back of the throat to alleviate the risk of blockages.