15 Natural Ways to Stop Snoring – Nature Might Offer You the Right Solution.
1. What kind of a snorer are you?.
Believe it or not, there are different types of snorers. Here is how you can know:
- If your mouth is closed while snoring, your tongue could be the problem. The base of the mouth may be falling into the throat, narrowing the airways. Try sleeping on your stomach or side to stop snoring or consider investing in a snoring mouthpiece.
- If your mouth is open while snoring, you could have sinus or nasal problems that can be brought on by allergies. Open mouthed snoring may also be a result of a constricted airway or bad tongue position.
- If you snore regardless of the position you have, it is possible that you have a medical issue. This is something you should see your doctor about.
2. Try sleeping on your side.
When you sleep on your back, your soft palate may collapse. As a result the airways will be narrowed. By changing your position will help you stop snoring or at least make your snoring less bothersome for your partner.
To make sure that you will stay on your side during the entire night, you might use the tennis ball trick. For this you should place a tennis ball in the back of your shirt. This will stop you from rolling to your back. There are some specially designed devices as well that serve the same purpose.
3. Be careful with your weight.
One of the ways to stop snoring, is to be careful with your weight. Although skinny people can snore as well, researchers agree that having some extra pounds increases your chances of snoring dramatically. This is because the excess fat around the neck narrows the airways, making it more difficult for you to breathe during the night. It might help if you lost only 10% of your current body weight.
4. No more smoking for you.
Even if you never thought about this aspect, smoking affects you even when you don’t have a cigarette in your mouth. This is because tar and nicotine can irritate the throat, making the tissue swell and resulting in snoring.
5. No more alcohol for you either.
If you wish to stop snoring, it might be best not to have any alcohol especially before bedtime. This is because it makes the muscles relax in the back of the throat, narrowing the airways. Sedatives and sleeping pills have the same effect as well.
6. Peppermint mouthwash.
Specialists believe that gargling with minty mouthwash, especially peppermint mouthwash, can help with your snoring problem.
7. Stinging nettle tea.
In case you have any allergies (even if you don’t know about them) it might be good for you to have some stinging nettle tea before bedtime as it soothes the irritated and swollen throat tissue.
8. Do you have any allergies?.
As you may already know, having allergies is a contributing factor to snoring. Try to eliminate allergens from your home and especially from your bedroom. Clean out the air conditioner ducts, vacuum the textile surfaces and the rugs and switch to a hypoallergenic pillow. If you still have problems with allergies, you might want to consider taking some anti-allergy medication before bedtime. Some of these make people sleepy, which is just perfect in your case.
9. Stay hydrated.
If you don’t have enough water during the day, your mucus will become dryer and stickier, leading to discomfort and snoring. If you don’t wish to have to get up during the night to go to the bathroom, you should get a humidifier for your bedroom.
10. Consider your sleep schedule.
If you don’t have a regular sleep pattern or if you go to sleep when you’re extremely tired, you could be sleeping very deeply which relaxes the muscles in your throat, resulting in snoring. The best thing you could do is to come up with a regular sleep schedule and stick to it, even on weekends.
11. Dairy intake.
It is a known fact that dairy products make the body produce extra mucus. This could result in an inflammatory response. The more mucus you have, the higher the discomfort, the narrower the airways and the worse the snoring is.
12. You should exercise the throat.
One of the 15 ways to stop snoring is to do some throat exercises. Some specialists claim that the throat muscles are just like any other muscles in the body and they need exercise. They suggest you to sing out loud at least three times per day. If the muscles are toned, they won’t over-relax and you will stop snoring.
13. Elevate your pillow.
As another solution you could elevate your pillow so that it will be higher than the rest of your body. You could also try some of the anti-snoring pillows.
14. Get a neti pot.
If you happen to have sinus issues, the neti pot will flush them gently. You can find such devices at the pharmacy and if you get a good one, you will be able to use it for years.
15. See your doctor.
Even if you think you can handle your snoring, it might be a symptom of a more serious problem, such as sleep apnea.
So these are the 15 ways to stop snoring in a natural way for you !. If you wish to stop snoring because it is bothering your partner, you shouldn’t simply sleep on the couch or have them sleep in another room; that is not a solution. Instead, you should try to combat the problem together.
You can find more information on snoring and relationships in the article Snoring and Your Relationship – Can They Coexist?.