What Can You Blame for Your Snoring?

Snoring sucks. It usually sucks more for people who hear you or share the same room with you than for you yourself. Here's an article I wrote back in 2007 about the common causes of snoring and (unfortunately) nothing has changed since then.

Fortunately, many of the causes like obesity) are manageable. Here's a look at the usual culprits. As always, please do not use this article as a substitute for a medical professional's diagnosis.

You’ve been shaken awake yet again by your significant other.  They are none too happy with you and demand you fall asleep after they do.  Are they right to be mad at you?  Is your snoring your fault?  In the morning, you can always show your grumpy darling this article.

Blame whateveris blocking your air passages.  These blockages cause your body to work harder to get enough air.  Ever stick a baseball in your brother’s French horn right before he blows on it?  The noise produced can scare even a cat.  I don’t recommend you try this, but it is a graphic demonstration of why and how you snore. 

There are many suspects for blocking your airwaves, and even a combination of them can create really spectacular snoring.  Among the most prevalent are:

• Nasal Congestion:  Colds, hay fever or upper respiratory infections can cause excess mucus to plug up airways already narrowed by swelling.
• Being Overweight:  Too much neck soft, flabby tissue can press on the airways.   Yet another reason to stick to that diet.
• Use of Muscle Relaxants:  like tranquilizers, alcohol, sleeping pills or even cold medicine for the nasal congestion can relax your tongue to the point that it blocks part of your mouth.
• Physical Deformities:  Including polyps, cysts, a broken nose or large tonsils.  No wonder tonsillectomies were so popular when I was a child.
• Being a Man:  Sorry guys, but you are prone to snore more than women.  This is thought to be due to lifestyle choices rather than any discrimination on the part of the Snoring Fairy.
• Being a Smoker:  If cancer and emphysema warnings aren’t enough to make you quit, then knowing that smokers snore more than non-smokers might do the trick.

When to go to the doctor

Although mostly a harmless annoyance, snoring can be a sign of more serious health problems.  If you don’t seem to be congested and are in basically good overall health, then it’s time to go to the doctor.  Snoring can be a sign of apnea, which is where you stop breathing in your sleep and cuts of vital oxygen to the brain.  It is often treatable.

There may also be a mechanical problem with the inner construction of your nose, nasal septum (a divider between the nostrils) or pharynx which can be obstructing your breathing.  Tumors are rare.  Snoring is also a sign of Picwickian Syndrome, which only affects victims with extreme obesity.

Sweet dreams.