Diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea is easily done through testing in a sleep laboratory.  If you or your significant other have a snoring problem you should see your doctor in order to have the testing scheduled.  It normally requires a night away from home so that you can be monitored in the sleep lab to determine how many times a night you quit breathing.  This determines whether or not you have obstructive sleep apnea or merely a common snoring condition.

With either diagnosis, there are many effective treatments available to reduce or prevent snoring.  It your doctor determines that you have obstructive sleep apnea he or she may prescribe the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine.  It provides a steady stream of air through a nasal mask, allowing the airways to remain open during sleep.  This prevents, and quite often even cures, a snoring problem.  However, not everyone can tolerate wearing the CPAP mask.

In some cases, snoring can be prevented by the use of an oral device that is similar to the mouth guards worn while playing sports.  The device allows the bottom jaw to move forward during sleep, keeping the airways open.  The effectiveness of the device depends on how severe your snoring problem is.  You can discuss this treatment option with your doctor, who may refer you to a dentist that specializes in the fitting and creation of the device.

If you have a snoring problem, please let us know which of the many treatments you are using and how effective it is.

Believe it or not, these people do bring their home lives with them to work in the fact that they get very little quality sleep each night.  Their sleep is interrupted because of the noise of their snoring bed partner.  This causes that sluggishness and lack of productivity that can cost companies upwards of billions of dollars in a year due to sleep deprivation, both on the part of the snorer and their bed partner.

Although there are many causes for snoring, one that causes the persistent snoring that occurs night after night is sleep apnea.  This is when the muscles of the throat relaxes, allowing the tissues to vibrate with the inhale and exhale in breathing and even for the trachea (the wind pipe) to constrict or collapse.  The result is that the snorer quits breathing for a few seconds, making them gasp and even snore louder in order to get the air they need.  They change positions, either by themselves or by the elbow jabbing of their bed partner, and return to sleep.  But by them, the damage is done.  They already have that interruption in sleep that causes all of those daytime symptoms.  Not only that, but have the lack of oxygen that gives their body a restorative sleep.

It’s important you learn more about this condition if you have a snoring bed partner, or even if you snore yourself.  Feel free to share experiences here for others to learn from.

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common thing when it comes to interruption while sleeping. What usually happens is that the airways actually collapse, which in turns causes blocked or shallow breathing, and the sound of snoring accompanies it. So, what did these studies find? Well, the couples were allowed to sleep together for two nights in a lab to get a baseline before being treated. After the men went home, they were hooked up to a breathing device that delivers CPAP, which is known as continuous positive airway pressure.

Believe it or not, the studies found that the treatment worked much better when men slept in the same bed as their wives. The couples that shared the bed with each other had fewer wake-ups. The women who left the bed woke up more often, even when their men were not snoring. In a news release the Doctor whom conducted these studies said that married couples should be educated together and treated together. That way, they go through everything together, and it’s already been proven that sleep apnea is nowhere near as bad when couples are with each other.

If you have any comments about this article, feel free to leave them in our comments section. We always love hearing what our readers have to say about our articles.

In this study, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh asked over 800 people between the ages of 45 and 74 about their sleep quality. After three long years, the people whom reported that they snore loudly while sleeping were more than twice as likely in opposed to people that do not snore loudly to have metabolic syndrome, which is a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke that includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low cholesterol levels, high triglycerides, and excess fat in their stomach.

People who reported having trouble falling asleep or who woke up feeling groggy, or like they did not have a good night’s sleep occurring at least three times per week were about 80 percent, and 70 percent more likely than quiet sleepers to develop three of more of the risk factors listed above. In other words, if you have a snoring problem, it could have a major negative impact on your life. Therefore, you should get treated right away.

If you have any comments about this post, please leave them below in our comments section. We always enjoy going over our readers comments and hearing your thoughts.

Age also plays a factor when it comes to snoring. As you get older, your throat will become narrower, and the muscle tone in your throat will begin to decrease. If you are a man, you are also more likely to snore than women. The reason for this is because men have a typically more narrow air passage than women, due to having naturally bulkier necks.

Snoring problems have also been associated with your weight. If you are overweight, your throat tissues can be less firm, that means they are more likely to vibrate when you breathe. Also, smoking has been known to create snoring problems. Smoke can irritate the back of your throat, and it can cause tissue damage, which will cause your airways to become inflamed, and then snoring problems will begin to arise. If you are a drinker of alcoholic beverages, you may want to limit yourself. Drinking will cause you to become more relaxed, which also mean that the muscles in the back of your throat become relaxed, which can instigate snoring problems.

If you know of any more causes of snoring, please leave a comment below.

If you are able to sleep on your side, you will be able to greatly reduce your snoring problem. However, you may be thinking “Well, that’s all good, but how am I going to remain sleeping on my side all night long?” Well, that is simple, actually. Grab a tennis ball, a sock, and a t-shirt. Put the tennis ball inside of the sock, sew it closed, and then sew the sock to the back of your shirt. It will be extremely uncomfortable for you to sleep on your back therefore you will most likely stay on your side all night long, snore-free!

Also, this being another helpful hint, most people snore when their mouths are open. The reason for this is that it puts pressure on the throat, and greatly increases your chances of snoring. Get yourself a jaw supporter, such as a chin-ups strip and wear it overnight. Voila, your snoring problem has most likely been solved.

If you find these tips helpful, or you have any other useful tips, please let us know in our comments section. We would love to hear what you have to say about your snoring habit, and how you conquered it. Have a great day, and a good night’s sleep!

Recent years has brought about the discovery of different methods of curing a snoring problem.  One that has been shown to work well is the Pillar Procedure, which is a minor procedure that can be done in your doctor’s office in about 20 minutes using a local anesthetic.  However, it should be noted that not every patient is ideally suited for the procedure, and there some minor risks.

The procedure involves surgically implanting several (three to five) polyester rods into the soft palate.  Each one measures 18 millimeters in length (just under an inch) and 1.5 millimeters in diameter.  They are placed parallel to each other in the soft palate.  The subsequent healing process and the body’s natural response to the implants stiffens the soft palate over a period of two to three months.  This reduces the relaxation of the tissues, thereby reducing or eliminating snoring.  The Pillar Procedure is used in the treatment of mild to moderate OSA as well as chronic snoring.

If you or someone you know has had this procedure, please let us know whether the treatment was successful and whether you would recommend it to others that suffer from OSA or a chronic snoring problem.

But if the snoring is continuous, night after night, with pauses in breathing, it can mean the snorer has a condition called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA).  This condition can and does affect the overall health of the sufferer, contributing to conditions such as heart disease, stroke and high blood pressure.

For some people, losing a few pounds can improve a snoring problem.  Getting plenty of exercise and choosing healthy foods helps in a dieting program to reduce snoring.  Because of excessive fat and tissue around the face, throat and chest, obese people are more likely to acquire OSA.

Try getting a new pillow.  Some people still sleep on feather pillows, which are more likely to contain dust mites.  People that usually do not have any problems in the day time suddenly become congested shortly after their head hits the pillow, causing them to breathe through their mouths and snore.

You should also avoid sleeping on your back.  This allows the tongue and the lower jaw to slide back, blocking or constricting the airway causing snoring.  Another suggestion is to raise the head of your bed slightly or sleep with more than one pillow, helping to keep the bottom jaw forward.  This reduces the instance of snoring.

If you have other tips to reduce or eliminate snoring, please share them here.  There are many treatments available, so let us know what works for you.

Here is the part that should concern you, ladies.  A study of 41 pregnant women in Victoria, Australia that have OSA showed that have babies that slow down in their growth rate prior to birth, or are born with lower birth weights compared to pregnant women without the affliction.  Although more research is needed to substantiate the findings, women should take notice and get their snoring problems treated effectively.  Dr. Allison Fung, the lead obstetrician in the study, said the findings should not alarm pregnant women that snore, since not all snoring is related to OSA.

Of the 41 women that were included in the study, 10 were diagnosed with having sleep apnea.  However it is estimated that between 20 and 35 percent of pregnant will snore due to the increase of the hormone progesterone in the body that causes increased stuffiness in the airways and nasal congestion.  In addition, the baby presses upward on the diaphragm, causing a decrease in lung capacity that contributes to snoring.

The point of the study is that women that snore prior to a pregnancy should see their doctor to be sure there are no underlying causes and to rule out the presence of OSA.  If the snoring is due to temporary problems, simple cures are available.

Tell us your opinion on the findings of this study, and whether you feel pregnant women should be alarmed by these findings.

Although the evidence isn’t solid at this point, it is believed that enlargement of the thyroid contributes to OSA by constricting the airways during sleep.  Because the thyroid gland is located in the neck, if it gets enlarged its size can press on the airways causing a narrowing or constricting of the airway, especially when the sufferer is lying down.  During sleep, the muscles in the neck and face relax, allowing the thyroid goiter to push down on the airway.

Based on this premise, the University of Wisconsin evaluated the results from removal or reduction of the thyroid in the treatment of OSA.  The patients with OSA that had the surgery were asked to complete a survey regarding their symptoms before and after the surgery in order to determine if it relieved some of their symptoms.  The results showed a reduction in the number of patients that were at risk for severe OSA (51% versus the original 71%) for the patients that went through the surgical procedure.

Given the fact that OSA is such a complex condition, the information given in this study is one more step in finding a cure and effective treatment for the condition, as well as for non-affecting intermittent snoring.  Let us know what you think of the information given here.