SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series: Stop Snoring
Stop Snoring Now & Sleep Better Tonight
Learn which sleep aids could be best for you
SECTION 1: THE CAUSES OF SNORING
So…Just What the Heck is Snoring, Anyway?
Technically, snoring is defined as any resonant noise from
the respiratory tract that emerges during sleep.
Biologically,
snoring refers to a vibration in the airway connecting the
nose and the mouth; a vibration that can emerge through the
mouth, the nose, or (as some non-snorers are painfully aware),
it can emerge through both!
As you can sense,
the more narrow the airway, generally speaking, the more
intense the vibration; and ultimately, the louder the snore.
You may also be
wondering why snoring only seems to emerge at night; after
all, people literally use their airway every moment of their
life; so why is snoring a nocturnal dilemma?
The answer to
this is found in looking at the tissues within the airway.
This tissue is very soft, and at night becomes relaxed; it’s
similar to how some muscles, like biceps, become relaxed
at night since the body does not require them.
As the throat
(and its subsequent tissue) relaxes during sleep, the wind
tunnel/airway becomes narrower and hence, snoring occurs.
Why Do
Some People Snore Louder than Others?
This, too, is
the reason why some people snore louder than others; and
why the actual tone and pitch of one snorer may be rather
different than another.
The actual snoring
sound that emerges is dependant upon the force of wind that
is being pushed through the (narrowed) airway. As you can
envision, the more potent the force of wind (i.e. the faster
the speed of the wind), the louder the snoring.
This is also why
even babies can snore; but it’s often not considered snoring
in the conventional sense, because an infant’s force of wind
through their wind tunnel is so mild, that it can easily
be ignored (though this can lead to complications; infant
snoring can often be a symptom for a breathing and/or respiration
problem, including allergy).
However, while
snoring affects people of both genders and of all ages, it
typically does afflict more men than women. There are a few
reasons for this.
Snoring
Tends to Favor Men
Overall, men’s
necks tend to be larger than women’s necks; and thus there
may be more fleshy tissue in there just waiting to combine
with air flow and cause snoring.
Another reason
is that women produce the hormone called Progesterone, which
is considered by some medical experts to be an aid in reducing
or preventing snoring. In fact, there are some anti-snoring
treatments that involve Progesterone therapy for snoring
men.
Factors that Increase and/or Lead to
Snoring
There are several
health and lifestyle factors that contribute to snoring;
and this is true for both men and women, since snoring is
a condition that does affect both genders (though surveys
suggest that men snorers outnumber women snorers by a ratio
of 2:1).
Some of the major
health and lifestyle factors that can contribute to snoring
include:
- Allergies,
which can clog the airway and trachea
- Allergy medications,
which can dry the nasal cavities
- Cold and Flu,
which can similarly clog the airway (this is why some people
experience snoring only when they’re suffering a cold or
flu)
- Thickened tissues
in the nasal passages, which can sometimes result from
some surgeries unrelated to snoring
- Overuse of
nasal sprays which irritate the nasal passageway
- Enlarged adenoids
and/or tonsils
- Goiter (swelling
of the an ineffective thyroid gland in the neck)
- A disproportionately
large tongue that blocks airflow
- Ineffective
regulation and neural control of mucus membranes
- Obesity and
excess weight (leading to an enlarged neck and excess soft
tissue in the trachea)*
- Excess gut/belly
(relatively decreasing the size of the lungs)*
- Drinking alcohol**,
which:
o
sedates the throat muscles and causes them to collapse
o dilates blood vessels
which swells up throat tissue
- Cigarette smoking,
which inflames the upper airway
- The normal
aging process, which can simply lead to a loss of muscle
tone in the neck and thus snoring
* Since relatively more men tend to experience an excess gut,
this is one reason why more men tend to experience snoring
than women.
** Any medication
(prescribed, over the counter, or illicit) that leads to
excessive relaxation can lead to snoring.
So while we’ve looked at what snoring is, and what (rather
common) factors and variables lead to/increase snoring,
there still remains a very important element to focus upon:
just how devastating is snoring? We answer this rather
ominous question in part two of this guide, below.
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