Quick Guide to Sleep Position and Snoring

Have you ever heard people say that they snore only when they sleep on their back? Or were you told that you seemed to snore every time you sleep on your back? Is there really a link between sleep position and snoring? Here’s a quick guide to sleep position and snoring which you or someone you know may find useful if snoring has become a problem that needs to be addressed.

Snoring and Your Sleep Position

Snoring happens when the upper airway, particularly the nasal passage and the throat, vibrate from the turbulent flow of air during breathing while you sleep. It often affects your soft palate and uvula, that tissue hanging down at the back of your throat. Another thing that may play a role is the narrowing at the tongue’s base.

Snoring can get even worse during nasal congestion, such as when you have allergies or cold. Mouth breathing can let the tongue and the jaw shift backwards. Alcohol intake could also intensify the sound produced. It happens because alcohol is a known muscle relaxant which can affect the throat’s muscular lining.

Sleeping on your back may make you more prone to snoring. It is because this sleeping position makes the air susceptible to collapsing from internal factors and external influence alike. These external influences can include your chest pressing down or weight of the neck. It is easier for gravity to shift the throat tissues which blocks sufficient flow of air. Sleeping on your back not only causes snoring it can also lead to the total collapse of airway a condition known as Sleep Apnea. Sleep apnea is where gasping, choking, breathing pauses, as well as other symptoms like daytime sleepiness can take place.

This condition also has significant and sometimes deadly consequences, which makes it imperative to address the issue when it starts to surface. It is a must to note that there are people who suffer from sleep apnea with no snoring evidences at all.

For you to breathe properly and have a more comfortable sleep, what you might need to do is to sleep on your side. A research study conducted recently, wherein 21 people who were frequent snorers with no sleep apnea, found that sleeping on your side significantly reduced the time they spent snoring along with a decrease being seen in the intensity of their snoring.

Top Suggestions for Snore-Free Sleep Positions

Below we outline our top tips that may help you get a better nights sleep. You may find that the following ideas may help you solve or at least improve your chance of reducing your snoring problem;

Sleep on Your Side

As mentioned earlier, people sleeping on their backs often have the worst issues when it comes to snoring because the throat’s tissues collapse making breathing problems worse while a person is in this sleep position. Changing your sleeping position by lying on your sides is an easy and simple way to solve it in certain cases. However, it can be a bit tricky to maintain this sleep position when you tend to move around a lot when sleeping. You might want to consider getting a full body length pillow that can support your body while sleeping on your side. The pillow can make it easier for you to maintain your side position during the night and dramatically improve your sleep’s quality and quantity in equal measure.

Prop Your Chin Up

Tucking something below your chin can help in firming up the skin around the neck. This can create a tension which will firm up throat tissues and lessen the vibrations while breathing. For this, a small pillow or just your hand can help. However, if you are moving around while you sleep, it can get displaced easily and make you snore all over again. An ideal solution for this is a chin strap. You can secure these chin straps around the back of your head, hold it in place while sleeping and keep your airways clear during the night. This can produce great results in reducing cases of snoring.

Keep Your Head Elevated

Keeping your head propped up while you sleep can change the throat and neck’s angle, which helps in opening the airways and letting you breathe quietly and easily. Moreover, it’s a perfect way to ease nasal congestion, which is another one of the key culprits behind snoring. You can simply do this with the use of a thicker pillow or just add another one on top of your existing pillow. This can make a big difference in the quality of your sleep if you manage to get the combination right. When you decide to opt for this particular method, make sure you choose a firmer pillow because a soft one will not have the desired effect in keeping you head elevated and will just let your throat relax yet again, thus obstructing your breathing. It is a method that can produce great results for a lot of people and curb their snoring for good. However, take note that there are people who complain about getting a stiff neck when they wake up the next morning from this type of solution.

Keep Your Abdomen Elevated

One more way to keep your airways open and lessen the chances of vibrations and blockages inside your throat enabling you to enjoy a more restful sleep, is to prop up your abdominal area. You can easily achieve this result by placing a pillow below the small of your back while you sleep. Keeping your body in this position is relatively easy, and it can also significantly reduce the risk of snoring bouts. Many people prefer this particular method since it doesn’t interfere with their usual sleeping position, not to mention that it also doesn’t cause any discomfort during the night or pains and aches in the morning.

Conclusion

With all the different alternative sleeping positions we have outlined above which you can try, it is just a matter of choosing the one which will specifically work best for you in your particular situation. The most ideal way to identify your best sleeping position is mainly from trial and error in order for you to find the one that is most effective when it comes to opening up the air passages for a more peaceful and restful sleep for you and your bed partner.

The reality is that there are lots of health benefits associated with getting a sound and peaceful sleep at night, which include both mental and physical benefits. These obtained benefits result in building a better and healthier life for you and everyone else sharing your bedroom simply by implementing small changes to your sleep routing which yield huge rewards that can be realized every day by feeling fresher and more rested.

If your snoring is the result of body positioning, these simple interventions outlined above might be the key for you to sleep better. But if your snoring still persists, even after using the methods and products outlined which can assist you, or when you have some other symptoms that might suggest sleep apnea or other medical condition it is always best to talk to your doctor or qualified specialist for further treatment and testing. If you or someone you know has Been Diagnosed as having Sleep Apnea there are some fantastic devices available right now which have helped many people overcome the risks associated with the condition and help them get a better quality sleep on a regular basis. Check out our article on the Latest Sleep Apnea Devices On The Market if you feel you or someone you know could benefit from help in this area.