Home > Snoring Articles > How Chin Straps Prevent Snoring

How Chin Straps Prevent Snoring

Snoring can be a true impediment to living a stress-free lifestyle. Many snorers are so loud as force spouses to sleep in separate rooms. In addition, snoring can bring about several dangerous, even life-threatening disorders.

A font of recent research has drawn convincing connections between snoring and the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the carotid artery. Doctors speculate that these plaques may have come about as a result of the continuous vibration of the tissues of the neck. Vibration has been known to irritate blood cells, to the extent of damaging them, causing them to stick to arterial walls and serve as the base for plaques, as more irritated blood cells latch onto them. Plaques of these nature can either block up the artery, causing a restriction in blood flow, or even detach, making their way to the brain where they typically result in stroke.

Obstructive sleep apnea, the type of sleep disordered breathing that commonly causes snoring, is characterized by intermittent cessations of breathing during sleep. These ‘missed breaths’ during the night can lead to very low levels of oxygen in the blood, a condition known as hypoxemia. Sufferers of hypoxemia are virtually always fatigued, and have very low levels of blood oxygen, a state that eventually leads to impaired concentration and even brain damage.

The chin strap, like many great innovations, is a simple device. It’s a low (read ‘no’) tech solution that’s cheap in an era when medical companies seem intent on peddling ever-more expensive devices to people desperate to find a cure to what can be a crippling disorder.

Stephen Matthews, inventor of the chin strap, recounts on the homepage of his website (mysnoringsolution.com) how he pioneered the device. Unable to sleep due to sleep apnea, feeling that he might meet his demise at any minute by swallowing his own tongue, Matthews tore a two-inch strip off a bathtowel, and wrapped it around his head. Awakening after his best night of sleep in years, he set about creating the company that became My Snoring Solution.

Nowadays, the chin straps made by Matthews’ company are comfortable, ergonomically designed neoprene straps made to be conducive to a peaceful night’s sleep. Researchers have found that chin straps achieve an amazingly high level of success at eliminating or greatly reducing snoring and the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea.

As simple a change as it might seem, keeping the mouth closed (with the lower jaw in an upward-facing position)  during sleep assists in maintaining the throat’s shape and position, opening airways, reducing air turbulence and soft tissue vibration, and ultimately training the mouth to remain closed without assistance. CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) device users may discover that using a chin strap with the CPAP actually increases its comfort and effectiveness.

Note, of course, that snoring can be the indication of an array of serious underlying conditions. Visit your nearest hospital for directions to a sleep clinic, where doctors can use overnight sleep observation to determine whether you might need more specialized treatment.