Edinburgh University in Scotland was the scene of a research study performed on 100 women who had reached at least the sixth month of their pregnancy. The study was focused on the respiratory system in general, but quite a bit of useful snoring data was gleaned in regards to why it is women are 2 to 3 times more likely to snore while pregnant.

Prof. Neil Douglas headed the study which exclusively focused on the last trimester of pregnancy. It was discovered that the percentage of women who snored skyrocketed from 12% before they became pregnant to a whopping 41% while experiencing the third trimester.

Although weight gain seems the most obvious of causes, Douglas’s team also discovered that with the increase in body mass at the abdominal level; a proportionate amount of body fat was also deposited in the neck and throat area which contributed highly to partially obstructed airways that caused snoring.

Thankfully, almost all women who snored during pregnancy stopped doing so quite quickly after childbirth. So this was not a permanent condition, and hopefully no bed partners of a pregnant woman ever insisted on them using an anti-snoring chin strap or other such device to add to the already embarrassing aspects of being pregnant. But the link is there, and the good news is that the snoring doesn’t fact go away. Now, enjoy that ice cream!

Homespun stop snoring cures have been used by people for centuries, mostly with comedic and less than stellar results. A licensed medical professional should always be the final authority on whether or not an effective cure or treatment could be used for a sufferer. However, it is not always possible either through lack of insurance or motivation for people to consult with a medical professional on their snoring issues.

So this will be a post on home tests you can perform on yourself to help bring you some simple snoring relief. Bear in mind that we’re not doctors, and we’ve come by this information through research.

The Nose Test

Put yourself in front of a mirror in a nice private place, and while gazing into it; close one of your nostrils by pinching the side of it. While keeping a closed mouth, inhale through the opposite nostril. If you find that it is collapsing, try to keep it propped open with the end of the pen or other clean instrument. If you find that it’s easier to breathe with it propped open like that, you may benefit from the many different kinds of nasal dilator’s.

There are several such products on the market that keep the nostrils propped open so that air can move freely through the pharynx. Congratulations, you may have just solved your snoring problem! Be sure to test both nostrils to be absolutely sure.

But not so fast, there is more. While maintaining a closed mouth, attempt to inhale through your nose. If you find it difficult or otherwise uncomfortable, you could be suffering from stuffiness or allergies. These are very often caused by dust mites, down pillows or blankets, or other potential allergens in the bed area.

Try removing these allergic threats as best you can in conjunction with the nasal dilator product of your choice, and you may see why so many people benefit from this great blog!

Palatal Flutter

If the previous tests were able to help you determine from where your snoring is coming from, it’s very possible that the sound is coming from the vibration of your soft palate and uvula. This is the likeliest possibility for people who are of normal weight proportions. And in these instances, Rhynil can be utilized to tighten the loose tissues, and an anti-snoring chin strap can be used to keep the mouth closed.

BMI (Body Mass Index) Diagnostic

Even though obesity and being overweight tends to be an easily picked culprit in almost any health issue, it most certainly lends itself to the propensity of snoring as well. The best way to determine BMI is by dividing your weight by your height squared. Seems simplistic, but it is a very reliable method to determine whether or not you’re overweight. If the result of this equation is 25 or more, then exploring methods of weight loss will go a long way towards stopping your snoring as well.

Later we’ll explore what to expect if going to sleep center to have your snoring habit closely diagnosed by doctors. But these procedures are very expensive, and very few insurance companies will cover them (in the US). So for those who cannot afford this research luxury, these tests will work in the short-term and give you an idea exactly how to tackle your snoring habit once and for all.

Now that medical technology has come to the point that it has, better quality studies of both sleep and snoring have followed suit. Most large urban hospitals, as well as university hospitals, have a dedicated sleep center as a part of their facility. The slowly destructive condition of OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) is now recognized and is joining the higher priority of studies.

If your insurance plan covers it, or you are lucky enough to find yourself part of a voluntary study, a night at one of these facilities would be the absolute most effective way for snoring or OSA sufferer to get the relief they seek.

There, several doctors and technicians will monitor you throughout the course of the night via sensors and electrodes fastened to your head and limbs. As you pass through the various sleep levels, doctors can monitor your brainwave activity along with listening closely to any obstructive events that may transpire.

The things you’ll need to take with you will be a modest set of pajamas (leave the lingerie at home ladies), a change of clothes, and whatever light entertainment you might need to fall asleep. Participants in these studies almost always are surprised at how easy it is to fall asleep. They make sure to give you a solitary room, and the sensing equipment is not at all invasive. There is no need for intravenous anything, so those with a fear of needles can rest easy.

Breakfast is almost never served the next morning, so make plans accordingly. And the results of your sleep study almost not likely be in until at least a couple of weeks after the night itself. The amount of data, and the variables within, will take quite some time to go over. But the results will be a real time 100% accurate snapshot of what occurs to your body during the course of the evening. And that will be critical ammunition for any treatment option to be able to succeed.

To find a sleep center near you, check out our new sleep center directory.

This Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an irritating and sometimes serious condition that results in a blockage of a patient’s airway during sleep. During normal sleep, when this airway collapses, the patient and invariably wakes with a start and airway opens again. But what if they are the influence of anesthesia?

Patients who suffer from OSA need to communicate this with their doctors before any surgery is performed on them that will require them to be unconscious. If the patient is there for snoring surgery, obviously this is taken into account.

But at the same time, patients should not feel an extra sense of anxiety over an impending surgery due to their OSA. As long as it is communicated with your doctor beforehand, there should be no complications as there is equipment and drugs that will allow for free air movement throughout the patient’s respiratory system at all phases of the surgical procedure.

However, this applies only to general practice medicine, and not any dental procedures.

Elective dental surgery should be put off until after a patient’s OSA can be addressed, dentists are not surgeons, and the facilities in a dental office might not be sufficient to handle and anesthesia related emergency due to collapsed airway. Just be sure to cover all your bases before anyone talks about knocking you out for any kind of surgery.

If you suffer from OSA, this should be a safety tip that you incorporate at all times.

People who snore on a chronic basis are also more likely to suffer from regular bouts of headaches. There is good reason for this, and it isn’t because people’s anti-snoring pillows are too hard.

People who suffer from sleep apnea or simple chronic snoring tend to walk around during the day with a sleep deficit. This deficit is often times relieved with the regular ingestion of caffeine in the form of coffee or other stimulant beverage. Caffeine addiction is known for chronic headaches on a dual level basis; sufferers run the risk of getting headaches from too much caffeine, and are very likely to get headaches during caffeine withdrawal.

This is why headaches tend to get snoring sufferers early in the morning. The eight or so hours they have spent not ingesting caffeine have caught up with them, and the lost sleep from sleep apnea sufferers only contributes to the misery further. So this puts snoring and headache sufferers in a vicious cycle of caffeine ingestion and subsequent withdrawal combined with loss of sleep during the night. It’s a good bet it that in during a few weeks of these headaches while not ingesting caffeine could help alleviate this cycle.

If your morning headaches are particularly severe, be sure to consult with your family physician to make sure that no serious medical conditions exist. If not, look to other methods of stimulation during the course of the day such as ginseng or other herbal alternatives. It will go a long way in reducing the headaches that just make life worse.

It is an unspoken truth that men snore more than women, and the reasons for this are more hormonal then notions of what is and is not “lady like”.

Studies during the early 1970s and 80s showed that men snore out of proportion greater than women and that was at a stunning 60 to 1. However, as incredible as it seems, studies performed in the last 10 years have shown that ratio to shift to an even more amazing 2 to 1. Why is this?

As it genuinely baffled the British scientist who did the original study, quite a bit of effort was put in to disprove the more recent studies results. But things such as environmental factors, the fact that women are prescribed antidepressant medication at a rate of eight times more than men, and lifestyle changes all played a role in the new 2 to 1 ratio. Despite this, women are more likely not to make an appointment with their doctors in regards to how to stop snoring due to lingering societal stereotypes.

Obstructive sleep apnea is still more prevalent among men due to the larger pharynx of the male physiology, and the fact that female hormones act to constantly keep women’s airways open during their sleep. But as far as simple chronic snoring, the new 2 to 1 ratio shows that snoring can no longer be considered an exclusively male body function.

We hear also that women actually fart as well, but still have no audio data with which to prove this hypothesis.

When we think about avoidable traffic accidents, alcohol and texting tend to come to mind quicker than other causes. However, recent studies have shown that falling asleep at the wheel is becoming a higher part of the statistics every year.

Much of this is due to the economy and that people are settling for more demanding jobs that require them to drive longer distances as part of their commute. And, as expected, freight and delivery drivers tend to rank quite highly in this statistic.

What does this have to do with snoring? Well for one, if you are driving on the interstate and the guy next to you is wearing an anti snoring chin strap, keep a nice safe distance (to the tune of about 5 miles). But seriously, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) affects approximately 25 to 40% of the population over the age of 45. Therefore, people who are struggling with the ensuing drowsiness that affects them during the day as a result of not getting any sleep are more likely to doze off behind the wheel of a car.

Toyota has designed and is currently testing a device that monitors a driver’s eye movements and the timing between blinks. This is done through a miniature camera installed in the steering wheel of the vehicle. Should a driver’s blinks last more than what is acceptable; the device on the steering wheel sends a message to the driver seat, and the driver’s seat will begin to shake the driver back to consciousness.

But one should not wait around for technology, if you find yourself nodding off while driving: stop driving. It simply isn’t worth it to get into an accident in this manner.

In order to be able to relieve or stop snoring altogether, your doctor will need to know exactly what is causing it. Because snoring generally happens when we’re not conscious, it’s very hard for a patient to have a frame of reference in regards to where that horrific sound is coming from. Also it’s very important to be able to discern run-of-the-mill snoring and OSA (obstructive sleep apnea).

Not everyone’s insurance company will happily pay for nights at a sleep center where doctors monitor patients throughout the course of the night. Therefore the most cost-effective method of giving both the patient and the doctor of a frame of reference in regards snoring sounds is to record them during the night.

Snoring cures are highly dependent on the nature of the snoring. Sometimes it’s just a case of the patient keeping her mouth open, other times it’s the nasal passages.

Having a voice activated digital recorder next year pillow while you sleep is a great method of recording the sounds without having to get another person involved. And snoring sounds WILL activate the recording functionality, don’t worry about that. And if you do have a sleep partner, it’s a good bet that they are more than willing to help you in this endeavor. Just ask them to make sure that the recording device is working during your nightly snoring fits.

Snoring can either be a nuisance or a sign of a serious medical issue, and knowing the nature of the threat is the best way to combat it. Digital voice recorders are not very expensive it can be found at almost any electronics store you go to.

We highly recommend that you invest in one to get a better picture of what it is that is happening to you during the night.

With most anti-snoring mouthpieces being developed by ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) physicians, it was quite a surprise when a privately practicing dentist from Dallas, Texas came up with one that boasts one of the highest success rates.

In the last three years, over 300 patients have been fitted with the Thornton Adjustable Positioner, or “TAP”, and its popularity has even spread to Great Britain were Dr. Thornton recently taught a course on its proper use to the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association. The device is not meant to be permanent, and it easily adjusts itself for both comfort and progressive ease of snoring symptoms.

Dr. Thorton’s primary interest was in the OSA, or Obstructive Sleep Apnoea, and after several observations as well as trial and error, he designed his device for the treatment of this very troublesome condition.

OSA can have very debilitating effects on the body due to the fact that the patient simply cannot get enough sleep to sustain proper mental and physiological function. Jobs, and in some cases, lives are at risk when people suddenly fall asleep at work. And even though TAP has had some measured success in the treatment of OSA, those who suffer from conventional snoring can and have reaped the benefits of this clever device.

Ask your doctor about this device and if they could possibly work for you, it is very low-cost and very low maintenance.

Well the jury is in, studies that have been published by the American College of Chest Physicians have concluded that snoring is a perfect genetic and runs in families. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre in Ohio’s Dr Maninder Kalra was head of the research project that had examined 681 infants over a 12 month period while also monitoring the activities and habits of their parents.

Children who were born with at least one parent who snored were three times more likely to have the condition themselves. The study adjusted for random factors such as tobacco smoke exposure and environmental conditions, but the results were no less conclusive.

Also, it was discovered that the percentage of children who snored along with a snoring parent was almost equally proportionate when it came to allergy suffering. In other words, if the parent suffered from allergies along with snoring, then their child suffered from both at the same time as well.

Although the conclusions weren’t very surprising, they do open the door for a new generation of snoring cures that could go in tandem with allergy relief as well. The results of the study have already led to other doctors to adjust their treatments accordingly, and we are eager to see how this new knowledge effects the development of next-generation treatments.