If you snore at night, you’re likely not getting the restful sleep you need. Snoring is a prevalent issue that can disrupt sleep and affect overall health. Snoring occurs when your airway is even slightly blocked; it creates resistance and turbulence. This is a sign that air is struggling to pass through a narrowed passage.
There are distinct types of snoring, each with its own causes and characteristics. Two of the most common types are nose snoring and mouth snoring.
Understanding whether you’re a nose or mouth snorer is crucial for finding the right solution to improve your sleep quality. In this article, you will learn the key differences between nose snoring and mouth snoring, the potential causes, and effective treatments for each type.
Why Do We Snore?
Before we talk about the difference between nose snoring and mouth snoring, it is important to understand why we snore. Snoring happens when air flows through a narrow space in the nose, mouth, or throat, causing turbulence and making the surrounding tissues vibrate. This can occur because the person is breathing too heavily during sleep or because their airway is too narrow due to congestion or structural issues. Snoring is common, affecting about 45% of men and 25% of women regularly.
What is Mouth Snoring?
Mouth snoring occurs when a person breathes through their mouth instead of their nose during sleep. This type of snoring is caused by a large volume of air passing through a flexible airway, leading to vibrations in the soft palate. When breathing through the nose, air flows freely over the palate without blockage or disruption.
Characteristics of Mouth Snoring
Mouth snorers often wake up with a dry mouth or throat due to the drying effect of mouth breathing. Their snoring typically produces loud, guttural sounds, unlike the higher-pitched whistling associated with nasal snoring. Additionally, sleeping with an open mouth is a common sign of mouth snoring.
Finally, mouth snorers may have thick palates that narrow the airway, leading to loud snoring. They may also be overweight, have low muscle tone, and have extra throat tissue that further restricts the airway.
How to Tell if You’re a Mouth Snorer
Dry mouth in the morning: Waking up with a dry mouth indicates you have been breathing through your mouth during sleep.
Loud and guttural sounds: If your snoring is loud and guttural or throaty, then you most likely are a mouth snorer.
What is Nose Snoring?
We snore through the nose when there is turbulence in the nasal cavity, often caused by a compromised nasal passage or irregular breathing patterns. Factors such as a deviated septum, chronic congestion, or small nostrils can lead to this turbulence. Additionally, how we breathe during the day—particularly if it's fast and hard—can influence our breathing during sleep, contributing to nasal snoring.
This short video explains why we snore through the nose:
Characteristics of Nose Snoring
Nasal snoring can be caused by conditions like a cold, flu, deviated septum, smoking, dust, allergies, and certain medications, all of which can lead to nasal blockage. Small or collapsed nostrils can also disrupt breathing during sleep, contributing to nasal snoring.
Persistent nasal congestion or blockage indicates a reliance on nasal breathing while sleeping. Additionally, nasal snorers often produce whistling or grunting sounds due to restricted airflow through the nostrils.
How to Tell if You’re a Nose Snorer
Whistling or grunting sounds: Snoring through the nose often produces a whistling or grunting noise due to restricted airflow.
Closed mouth while sleeping: If you sleep with your mouth shut and can still snore, it indicates that the snoring is likely coming from your nose.
Now that you have learned the difference between mouth snoring vs. nose snoring, their characteristics, and how to tell if you are a nose snorer or mouth snorer, the next thing on your mind would be how to stop mouth snoring or nose snoring.
How to Stop Mouth Snoring
To effectively stop mouth snoring, it’s essential to focus on encouraging nasal breathing and maintaining lip closure during sleep. Here are some practical strategies to help you achieve this:
Strategies to Stop Mouth Snoring
Maintain lip closure: Use supports like MyoTape to keep your mouth closed during sleep. This encourages nasal breathing and helps prevent mouth snoring.
Functional breathing exercises: Practice some breathing exercise that focuses on breathing light to improve your BOLT score to at least 20 seconds. The BOLT (Body Oxygen Level Test) score measures how long you can comfortably hold your breath after a normal exhalation. A higher BOLT score indicates better breathing efficiency and can help reduce fast, hard breathing, which contributes to snoring.
The Buteyko Method is a breathing exercise that normalizes your breathing volume and naturally widens the airways. This technique can help reduce snoring without relying on intrusive devices or expensive surgery. You can learn more about how the Buteyko breathing method can help with snoring.
Adjust your sleeping position: Sleeping on your back can worsen snoring and sleep apnea. This happens because gravity increases your breathing volume and causes your mouth to open, which makes your lower jaw drop and narrows your airway. This combination leads to louder and more frequent snoring. So, adjust your sleeping position to sleep on your sides.
How to Reduce Nose Snoring
Reducing nose or nasal snoring involves addressing the underlying causes of nasal obstruction and promoting smooth nasal breathing. Here are some effective strategies to help you reduce nasal snoring:
Strategies to Reduce Nose Snoring
Treat underlying causes:
- Deviated septum: Surgery may be necessary to correct a deviated septum.
- Allergies: Keep your home free from dust and dander, use antihistamines, and employ a room humidifier to reduce nasal congestion.
- Smoking: Quit smoking to reduce nasal inflammation and congestion.
- Nasal dilators and rinses: Use nasal dilators or nasal rinses to open up nasal passages and reduce snoring.
Practice nasal breathing: Focus on breathing only through your nose during the day to promote nasal breathing at night. MyoTape can also help train you to breathe nasally,at all times.
Here is an informative video on how functional breathing can help stop nasal snoring.
Functional breathing exercises: Practice breathing exercises that will help you to breathe light in order to improve your BOLT score to at least 20 seconds. This can significantly reduce nasal snoring for many people. The Buteyko breathing method is also highly recommended and effective in reducing nasal snoring.
Knowing the difference between snoring through the nose vs. mouth is key to finding the right solution for better sleep. Nose snoring happens because of problems in the nasal passages, like congestion or a deviated septum. Mouth snoring occurs when breathing through the mouth causes vibrations in the soft palate and throat.
Figuring out what type of snoring you have is the first step to fixing it. Once you know if you’re a nose snorer or a mouth snorer, you can use specific strategies to reduce or stop the snoring. As mentioned in the article, the Buteyko breathing method can help you fix mouth snoring and treat nasal snoring. The Buteyko Clinic offers live online clinics for snoring and one-on-one clinics that will help you stop snoring. At the clinic, you’ll master techniques to eliminate mouth snoring, lessen nasal snoring, and prevent airway collapse during sleep.
Another effective solution that helps to fix mouth snoring is MyoTape.
MyoTape Helps You Combat Snoring
Nasal breathing at all times is essential for reducing snoring and improving sleep quality. MyoTape helps train you to always breathe through your nose while sleeping at night and even when you are awake. Developed by world-renowned breathing expert Dr. Patrick McKeown, MyoTape is a safe and innovative mouth tape that gently holds your lips together, training the muscles around your mouth to stay closed.
You can check out our range of effective mouth taping products designed for everyone, including mouth tape for kids, adults, those with sensitive skin, and even those with facial hair. Visit our online shop today to find the perfect MyoTape solution for you and start your journey to quieter, more restful nights.
