Do Nasal Strips Work For Snoring?

With the various types of anti-snoring devices on the market at the moment, it can be a little bit difficult deciding on which is the best device for you. The products come in all shapes and sizes ranging from anti-snoring mouthpieces, nasal strips, wedge pillows and memory foam mattresses all claiming to some degree to reduce your snoring situation. The list is endless to some extent mainly due to the fact that, new products and innovations are being developed as we speak and will launch based on some new improvement or innovative market positioning.

In this article, we are going to concentrate on nasal strips and how effective they are when it comes to snoring. If you discovered this page, you probably own one or indeed you may be searching for one and looking for a little more information. Perhaps someone recommended these strips because they worked for them in controlling their own snoring, either way as much as the idea about these nasal strips is pretty clear, you may still be wondering if they are effective enough to use for snoring.

We will do our best to explain how these nasal strips can work for snoring and outline some of the advantages and disadvantages of these type of strips so you know what to expect. Companies can sometimes promise that their product will deliver the earth (which might be true in some instances) however the truth is when you’re dealing with people a blanket approach doesn’t fit and what works in some cases mightn’t work in others.

For example someone who only breathes through their mouth and snores as a result, may not find any benefits from using an anti-snoring nasal strip or similar device. Instead a better solution for them would be to focus on their breathing by trying to incorporate more nasal function or indeed, finding another related device for mouth snoring like a chin strap or anti-snoring mouthpiece.

Ok so let’s start by talking about snoring and why you might benefit from using one of these types of anti-snore nasal strips.

Why do I need a nasal strip to deal with my snoring?

Sleeping is one of the fundamental functions in our bodies. For an average adult, you need about 8 hours of sleep (this figure varies with age) for various reasons. Here are some of things your body does in this time period when you are asleep;

When you are asleep, your body uses this opportunity to detoxify the entire system
Your white blood cells deals with foreign bodies while you are asleep essentially building up your immune system into a strong fortification against any threats.
Your brain also reorganizes your thoughts and helps to give you a clear picture of the next day. A sort of trial for your subconscious mind.
Ensuring you get enough sleep will enable you to wake up feeling refreshed, ensuring you are able to maximize your day fully.
Lack of enough sleep has been linked to high blood pressure and other body disorders including a recent study which linked bad sleep to depression.

For more information on how sleep is important to your body, you can check our post on why sleep is important for health. Ok so back to your snoring problem.

Ok so we know that snoring is the sound that is caused by the vibrations of your throat tissues while you are asleep. Although it might seem harmless at first, we promise you snoring has a lot to do with your lifestyle.

The first impact of snoring can often relate to the people around you who won’t get enough sleep because of the noise and disruption created. Unfortunately that can have a serious effect on your relationship and the interactions you have with the people you love, which in our view is a real pity. If you find that your relationship is becoming strained with your partner a little recently, it may be a knock on result from the effect snoring is having at night. This is something worth considering as it could be the little step that begins to start a journey to better interactions without guilt and feelings of annoyance and frustration.

The next obvious impact snoring will have relates to the snorer. Snorer will not achieve enough quality sleep over the course of the night. Even if you think you have slept like a baby throughout the night, your body was actually constantly trying to wake you up, in order for it to clear up the airway and improve airflow. The reason being that when you snore, you have inadequate supply of airflow to your entire body including the brain. The body understands this and operates on a sort of caution mode where you will never really achieve sustained quality sleep.

The result of your body operating in this way, is that you will wake up feeling tired. Unfortunately this tiredness lasts for the entire day and in so doing, will also affect your daily mood and at the same time your productivity. The worst part is if snoring starts to manifest and begins affecting your health in more serious ways.

With that brief highlight out of the way, the one thing you should understand is that you need to try and solve your snoring problem before it develops further. Otherwise you will end up dealing with a bigger health complication in the long term. Ever heard of sleep Apnea?

Sleep Apnea and how it relates to snoring

Contrary to most beliefs, sleep Apnea is not a severe case of snoring. That idea has misled most people into using anti-snoring devices to treat their sleep Apnea disorders. That can have a negative effect instead of treating your disorder. That is why this section will help you understand the line of difference between the two.

Sleep Apnea is a severe disorder where your sleep and breathing starts and stops due to blockages in your airway system. You should also note that this condition can be fatal since you literally stop breathing when you are asleep. This situation can happen a couple of times on any given night or during a period of sleep. Sometimes a hundred or even thousands of times a night depending on the particular case. This is how sleep apnea and snoring differ on a basic level.

On the other hand, snoring as explained earlier, is a condition where your throat muscles actually vibrate and make sounds when you are asleep. Snoring however has almost the same effect on your body in extreme conditions as sleep Apnea. Although snoring is not fatal, it can have adverse effects to your entire body not to mention your social life, family life, relationships and sometimes confidence. Feelings of embarrassment and being self-conscious can result from snoring.

Today, there are two different ways through which patients snore. You can either snore through your mouth or snore through your nose. Therefore, it is essential to know which kind of a snorer you are, so that you can sort out a treatment that directly relates to your condition.

For instance, if you are a mouth snorer, you should consider using an anti-snoring mouthpiece. Whereas, if you are a nose snorer, nasal strips may be the most effective way to treat your disorder.

Sleep Apnea typically has its own devices to deal with such situations. The devices are known as CPAP machines. If you are looking for the best CPAP machine to deal with your sleep apnea situation then you can check out our list of the best CPAP machines.

You should consult your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms so that you can better understand what exactly might be affecting your health in a detrimental way;

If you experience daytime sleepiness
If you are always fatigued during the day
If you exhibit chocking or gasping sounds when you are asleep
Constant headaches in the morning
Frequent or loud snoring

Diagnosis of this sleep apnea and indeed certain chronic snoring will involve surveillance for about 8 hours of sleep in either your home or in a lab room. So hopefully you will now begin to see, how snoring and sleep apnea can totally affects your lifestyle during the day without you even knowing.

Ok now let’s talk about anti snoring nasal strips which happen to be the highlight of this article. These devices have a simple design and one can easily look down on them as being too simple to work effectively. However you shouldn’t let their simple design fool you. Anti-snoring nasal strips are as effective as any other anti-snoring devices given the right circumstance.

What are anti-snoring nasal strips?

These devices, also known as nasal dilators, are uniquely engineered to deal with snoring situations. The devices come in a simple flexible design that fits above your nostrils. The idea is to keep your nostrils open all night.

When you fit it to your bridge, it acts like a spring and pulls back your nostrils hence enhancing your breathing. This also prevents the nostrils from collapsing so that you have a clear breathing route.

With some of the latest technology including better adhesion properties, these anti-snoring devices have helped a lot of people with their snoring problems.

How does an anti-snoring strip work for snoring patients?

It’s quite simple really you will fix this device on top of the bridge of your nose and into your nostrils. The strips holds the nostrils open all night hence ensuring a steady flow of air. They are the best type of device to reduce any nasal air flow resistance.

As well as that, the constant air flow ensures the user of a healthy night’s sleep that is quite refreshing. Some of the studies conducted on patients shows that the device causes significant improvements in their snoring outlook.

The adhesive band used in the construction of the nasal strip enhances its effectiveness. Most people consider this device as the best anti-drug solution treatment to mild or moderate snoring conditions.

Even better news is that this snoring device will help anyone with a deviated septum, cold or even allergies have a better night sleep. That means the rest of the family will have a noise-free night’s sleep which improves the productivity and happiness levels of everyone.

How is the anti-snoring strip different from the rest of the devices on the market?

If you are going through any cycle of nasal congestion, then this might be the best option for you. Logically, you won’t go for anti-snoring devices that are linked to your mouth for instance an anti-snoring mouthpiece because the result will not be that effective more than likely.

As much as other devices for instance a wedge pillow will work for snoring patients, they are not as effective as the anti-snoring nasal strips when it comes to nasal congestion. The fact that this device allows an easy flow of air through your nose, you are likely to feel better in the morning.

We all know or perhaps you didn’t, that breathing through your nose is the best way to get clean air into your respiratory system. The mouth simply lacks the adaptation to deliver the required air for proper functioning of your body.

Most of the devices on the market use the mouth as an alternative route to deliver the required air into your system. This can have adverse effects in the future. The risk is however not life threatening but will affect your body one way or the other.

That is why if you have problem breathing through your nose, you are encouraged to find a way to fix such a problem rather than try breathing through your mouth. With that being said, if you simply have no other choice then you should go for an anti-snoring mouthpiece for snoring, and for sleep apnea use a good quality modern CPAP machine which introduces clean and warm air through your mouth.

The best part about the anti-snoring nasal strips, is that they don’t have any chemical additives which protects your body and keeps you free of side effects. The nasal strips are in most cases made from safe materials that are applied externally to the nose.

Will the anti-snoring nasal strip treat sleep Apnea?

Unfortunately, anti-snoring nasal strips cannot treat sleep apnea conditions, and indeed should not be used to treat sleep apnea. The anti-snoring nasal strip is purely focussed on nasal congestion and nasal breathers in order to improve airflow.

Advantages of using Nasal strips for snoring conditions

Ok so here are some of the awesome benefits of using these simple nasal strips for snoring;

Nasal strips are very easy to use. New users rarely require a manual to fit the strip onto their noses. You simply place the nasal strip on top of your nose and into your nostrils and it will open up your air way.
The nasal strip doesn’t contain any drugs or additives hence it is completely safe for your health. It is also safe for your skin since the device has undergone dermatological tests to prove its safety. As well as that, the good news is the device is completely safe for use by children.
Nasal strips are also available in different sizes. So it is easy to find a device that is comfortable and can fit into your nostrils perfectly.
Nasal strips have been proven to be very effective for snoring patients.
The strips are available for both daytime and night time usage. You just have to decide which one best fits your needs.
You can combine the nasal strips with using a chin strap for added benefits. The chin strap will ensure your mouth stays closed while the nasal strip ensures your nose stays open.
The nasal strip is easy to transport and carry around with you.
Most brands of nasal strips used for snoring are made with latex-free materials and are either designed or manufactured in the USA.
They are also comfortable to wear.

Now onto the downsides to these devices. Although the good news is… there aren’t too many!

Disadvantages of using Nasal strips for snoring problems

The fact remains that it doesn’t matter how many times you use nasal strips, people are already used to breathing through their mouths. Therefore, this fact renders the nasal strips worthless to those people who often use their mouths to breathe when they are asleep.

The other downside is that nasal strips only work for snoring patients with nasal related snoring. That means if your snoring problem is linked to your mouth, this device might not work for you.

Additionally, the nasal strip is only a temporary solution for snoring. So far, none of the patients using the nasal strips have showed complete recovery from snoring. Once the user stops putting on the nasal strips, snoring returns after just a few days. Therefore, it is always advisable to check in with your doctor and seek medical advice on a long term solution, if that is what you desire.

Even though the nasal strips are quite effective in solving snoring related problems, the device cannot help a patient suffering from sleep Apnea. If you have sleep apnea, you will need to look for CPAP machines.

Final verdict

As you have seen from the description above, nasal strips will help you deal with your snoring problems. If you are in the market for a nasal strip device for snoring, then you may have come across the endless list of brands in this sector.

It can be a bit tricky deciding on which device to settle on. That is why we took the liberty of hand picking some of the best nasal strip devices that show positive results to the patients. You can check out our list of the best choices that may suit you.

Additionally, nasal strips can also work well with other devices, especially for instance with chin straps. It may be worth considering trying the two together to achieve ultimate results to banish snoring for good!

We hope you found this article useful and recommend you check out the rest of the site for more hints and tips and to find suitable products to achieve a better night’s sleep free from snoring!