Snoring is a problem for the person who snores, and for anyone trying to sleep within earshot. However, there are a number of devices and techniques that can help that don’t require a workup by an ear, nose, and throat specialist. Anyone who snores and actually stops breathing at times during the night should see a doctor, though. Sleep apnea is dangerous, and can be deadly. But ordinary snoring often responds to a number of treatments, such as a snoring mouth guard.
If you snore open-mouthed, then the tissues in your throat are probably causing you to snore, but if you snore closed-mouthed, then your tongue may be the problem. If you only snore when you’re on your back, then chances are that your snoring is mild, and you can put an end to it using simple lifestyle measures. On the other hand, if you sleep regardless of position of you body or mouth, then your snoring is most likely severe, and you may require more comprehensive measures to stop your snoring.
The causes of snoring are many. Sometimes snorers have too much nasal and throat tissue at the back of their mouth, and it vibrates when they sleep in certain positions. Tongue position can also influence snoring. Sometimes the way you snore can give you clues about the cause of your snoring. To learn more about the specific conditions that set off your snoring, you or your partner can keep a sleep diary to document times during the night, and sleep positions to try and zero in on a cause.
Some snoring causes are out of your control. These causes include inheriting a narrow throat or large adenoids, being middle-aged or older, being male (and hence having a narrower airway than females usually do), and having allergies, respiratory infection, or sinus infections. Then again, there are causes of snoring that are within your control that you may have t o make an effort to overcome. For example, being overweight or out of shape can lead to fatty tissue in the throat and poor muscle tone. Smoking often relaxes muscles and creates nasal congestion, two very controllable causes of snoring. Alcohol and some medications cause muscles to relax to the point that snoring is a problem. And sleeping flat on your back can cause the flesh in your throat to relax and vibrate when you breathe, resulting in snoring.
While it doesn’t work in everyone, there are enough people who have had success ending snoring by using a snoring mouth guard that you may want to consider one. Snoring mouth guards help when the problem is the mouth not retaining the proper shape while you are asleep. Normally the teeth and tongue are relaxed, but don’t move when you sleep, but sometimes the tongue and throat tissues do not lie properly during sleep. When this happens, snoring is a greater possib ility, but a snoring mouth guard can often help.
What a snoring mouth guard does is to make sure that the structures in the mouth are lined up properly as you fall asleep. Though the muscles and tissues will relax as you sleep, the mouth guard will keep those mouth structures in their proper places, so that snoring is reduced or eliminated. Snoring mouth guards are available over the counter and by prescription by an ear, nose, and throat doctor or dentist.
Snoring mouth guards can help with snoring and with mild cases of sleep apnea. Worn at bedtime, they prevent the soft tissues of the throat from relaxing to the point that they obstruct the airway. They generally bring the lower jaw forward and may also lift the soft palate of the mouth. Some of them keep the tongue from falling back so it blocks the windpipe. The dentist or specialist will take a mold of your mouth and send it t o a laboratory that custom makes snoring mouth guards. The Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine’s (www.aadsm.org/) can help you find a dentist specializing in this type of dentistry.
The prescription guards are made from an impression of your mouth so that they fit you and you only. These will probably give you the best results, but as you might imagine, they are expensive, often costing several hundred dollars. Over the counter snoring mouth pieces are far less expensive – usually costing from US$20 to $100. These non-prescription mouth guards are also made so that they can be customized to your exact mouth shape using various methods such as immersing the devices in hot water.
It is vital that you follow the instructions for molding these mouth guards exactly, because if you don’t, you could well create a bad mold that will not fit well. If you have a very small or large mouth, then you may have a harder time finding an over the coun ter snoring mouth guard that fits your mouth well. Some people have success with over the counter athletic mouth pieces, which come in different sizes and can be custom molded at home.
The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine finds oral appliances as being an effective treatment for snoring. In a 2001 Swiss study, oral appliances were found to be effective in treatment of sleep apnea with the side effects of mouth dryness, excessive salivation, and tooth discomfort being common, but tolerable. A study in the UK of 25 heavy snorers showed that snoring mouth guards reduced the volume of snoring for 84% of the patients.
It is only natural that people considering using a snoring mouth guard wonder if they will damage or reposition their teeth. In a Swedish study, one fourth of people with snoring mouth guards abandoned them, saying that they experienced excessive salivation, tooth shifting, or other mouth discomfort. But permanent shifting of the teeth should not be a problem with a reasonably well fitted snoring mouth guard. If you are considering a custom made sno ring mouth guard, an over the counter one can be used on a trial basis to see if you can tolerate one before committing to the more expensive custom made model.
There is a limit to how far forward the lower jaw can advance before causing pain – usually 3 to 5 mm. This will usually relieve airway obstruction. However, most snoring mouth guards cannot be adjusted further as the person’s temporomandibular joint relaxes over time, and this further adjustment could benefit snorers more.
Though snoring is sometimes just an annoyance, and maybe a slightly humorous one at that, it can be a serious problem. Not only can intense snoring ruin the sleep of a sleeping partner, but it can cause one partner to have to move to another room to sleep, and over time, this can put enormous strain on a relationship.
It must be remembered, too, that snoring can be accompanied by sleep apnea – where the snorer actual ly stops breathing temporarily during the night. Sleep apnea can not only ruin the quality of sleep, causing the patient to wake up multiple times during the night, it can also be dangerous. Sleep apnea is associated with coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, irregular heart rhythm, depression, and higher risk of stroke, so it is definitely no laughing matter. Anyone with persistent snoring should definitely bring it to the attention of a doctor to evaluate the risk of sleep apnea. Anyone who is diagnosed with sleep apnea should follow the instructions of his or her physician with regards to using a snoring mouth guard, or taking other measures to address the problem. While snoring mouth guards can make the bedroom a quieter place, they are in no way a cure for sleep apnea, even in those cases where it allows better sleep for sufferers of sleep apnea.