Snoring is a common issue that many people face. It is characterized by noisy breathing during sleep, which happens when air has trouble flowing smoothly through your nose or mouth, causing the relaxed tissues in your throat to vibrate and create that familiar hoarse sound. While almost everyone snores from time to time, chronic snoring can be a real problem. It can disturb your sleep and that of your partner, making your sleep less restful, frustrating, and uncomfortable.
If you've noticed your snoring getting worse, it's natural to feel concerned and wonder why this is happening. Not only can worsening snoring be a nightly annoyance, but it can also be a sign of more serious health issues, like obstructive sleep apnea, and increase your risk of conditions such as stroke and heart attack.
Understanding what causes snoring to get worse is the first step toward finding a solution. This article will explore five common factors that can make snoring more severe. Our goal is to help you identify these triggers so you can take steps to improve your sleep and overall well-being. However, what really causes someone to snore?
The Real Reasons Why We Snore
Snoring is a clear sign that your airways are obstructed. It happens when a large volume of air tries to pass through a narrow space, causing turbulence in the soft palate, nose, or back of the throat. This turbulence makes the tissues vibrate, producing the familiar snoring sound.
There are two main reasons why this obstruction occurs. First, some people breathe too heavily and noisily during sleep. Second, their upper airways may be narrow due to nasal congestion or structural issues. When we sleep, the muscles that keep our airways open during the day become relaxed. This makes the airways more prone to collapse, especially if the negative suction pressure from inhaling is too strong.
You need to understand that snoring can happen through the mouth, the nose, or both. It's essential to understand whether you snore through your mouth or nose, as the causes and solutions can vary greatly.
Mouth Snoring:
Mouth snoring occurs when you breathe heavily through your mouth, causing the soft tissues in the back of your throat to vibrate. This type of snoring usually stops if you keep your mouth closed while sleeping, as it's nearly impossible to snore through a closed mouth.
A simple way to deal with mouth snoring is to use gentle nasal breathing support tape like MyoTape to keep your mouth closed while you sleep. This encourages nasal breathing and can greatly reduce mouth snoring since it's almost impossible to snore with a closed mouth.
Nose Snoring:
Nose snoring happens when the airflow through your nasal passages becomes turbulent, creating vibrations where the nose meets the throat. Factors like nasal congestion, a deviated septum, or naturally narrow nasal passages can contribute to this. Breathing more forcefully increases this turbulence, making nose snoring more likely.
To reduce nose snoring, you should clear nasal congestion with a nose unblocking exercise that makes nasal breathing easier. Practice nasal breathing during the day to build the habit for nighttime. Also, engaging in breathing exercises that train you to reduce the volume and speed of your breathing. Nasal dilators and nasal strips can also help you reduce nose snoring.
When you snore, the soft palate might fall against the back of the throat, the tongue can slide back into the airway, the walls of the throat might collapse, or the epiglottis could close off the airway. Each of these scenarios creates a blockage that leads to snoring.
To visualize this, think of a paper straw. If you suck air forcefully through it, the straw collapses. The same thing happens with your airways when you breathe heavily during sleep. Gentle breathing keeps the straw—and your airways—open, but heavy breathing causes them to collapse.
What Causes Snoring to Get Worse?
Now, here are five common reasons why snoring could worsen. This excludes physiological issues and conditions:
1. Weight Gain
Weight gain is one of the primary factors that can worsen snoring. Gaining weight, especially around your neck and throat, can lead to fat deposits that obstruct your airways. This added pressure narrows the airway, making it more likely for you to snore while you sleep.
Obesity is particularly linked to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition where your airway becomes blocked during sleep. Research shows that 40% of obese individuals have sleep apnea, and 70% of OSA patients are obese. This means that as snoring increases in severity, it often comes with breathing interruptions that further disrupt your sleep.
Even small amounts of weight gain can have a noticeable impact on snoring. If you've found that your snoring has worsened, your weight might be a contributing factor. Maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise can help reduce snoring and improve your overall sleep quality.
Addressing weight gain is an essential step in managing your snoring. Studies have shown that losing weight can significantly improve snoring and related sleep issues, allowing you to breathe easier at night. Taking steps to control your weight benefits your sleep and enhances your overall health and well-being. Losing weight can help reduce both nasal and mouth snoring.
2. Sleeping Position
Your sleep position plays a key role in how loudly you snore. Studies show that sleeping on your back can greatly worsen both snoring and sleep apnea. The reason lies in gravity: when you lie on your back, your mouth tends to open, and your lower jaw hinges downward, reducing the diameter of your upper airway. This unrestricted breathing leads to larger breathing volumes, which can increase the severity of snoring.
One study assessing 2,077 patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) over ten years found that 53.8% experienced at least twice as many breathing abnormalities when sleeping on their back compared to sleeping on their side. This demonstrates how much your sleeping position can influence the quality of your sleep and the severity of snoring.
Conversely, sleeping on your side or stomach can help reduce snoring and the frequency of sleep apnea events. These positions help keep the airway open, reducing the impact of gravity and allowing for smoother, quieter breathing.
If you're struggling with snoring, consider changing your sleeping position. Avoid sleeping on your back, and try to sleep on your left side or stomach. Making this simple adjustment can lead to quieter nights and better sleep quality for both you and your loved ones.
3. Nasal Congestion
Nasal congestion is a well-known factor that can significantly worsen snoring and contribute to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). When your nasal passages are blocked, you're forced to breathe through your mouth, which often leads to snoring.
One common cause of nasal congestion is allergic rhinitis, affecting 10-25% of the global population. Despite its prevalence, allergic rhinitis is often underrecognized and undertreated as a cause of snoring and sleep apnea.
The primary symptom of allergic rhinitis is nasal congestion. When your nose is blocked, you're compelled to breathe through your mouth, leading to overbreathing and increased nasal obstruction. This not only worsens snoring but also the severity of sleep apnea.
For dealing with nasal congestion, treatments such as decongestants, nasal sprays, nasal dilators, or managing allergies can clear your nasal passages, making it easier to breathe through your nose and reducing the likelihood of snoring. Taking steps to manage nasal congestion can lead to quieter, more restful nights for you and those around you.
4. Lifestyle Choices
Your lifestyle choices can significantly impact snoring and sleep apnea. Drinking alcohol or taking muscle relaxers can overly relax your tongue and throat muscles, increasing the likelihood of airway obstruction. Alcohol, in particular, relaxes throat muscles and decreases your natural defenses against airway blockage, leading to more severe snoring.
Furthermore, a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy diet can contribute to weight gain, further increasing the risk of snoring due to added pressure on the airways.
Making healthier lifestyle choices can help reduce snoring. Limiting alcohol intake, avoiding muscle relaxants before bed, quitting smoking, and maintaining an active lifestyle with a balanced diet can all contribute to better airway management and quieter nights. These steps not only improve your sleep but also enhance your overall health and well-being.
5. Mouth Breathing
Most people don't know it, but mouth breathing is a major factor that can worsen snoring and even contribute to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). If you breathe through your mouth, you tend to overbreathe, taking in larger volumes of air more frequently. This hyperventilation doesn't increase oxygen levels but instead reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) in your blood, which is essential for oxygen delivery to tissues. Low CO2 levels can cause the upper airway muscles to relax and collapse, exacerbating snoring and OSA.
Mouth breathing also increases negative pressure on the upper airways, causing them to cool, dry out, and become inflamed. This combination of larger breathing volumes and narrower airways creates the perfect conditions for snoring and airway obstruction. Research shows that mouth breathing can change the anatomy of the upper airway, making it more elongated and narrower, which increases the severity of airway collapse.
Encouraging nose breathing and using a mouth tape like MyoTape can help reduce mouth breathing, thereby decreasing snoring and improving sleep quality. Understanding and addressing mouth breathing is crucial for managing snoring and ensuring better sleep for both children and adults.
MyoTape Helps Reduce Your Snoring
Mouth breathing can not only cause your snoring to get worse, as it can also lead to bad breath, increased risk of infections, and poor concentration. However, MyoTape is an effective tool that enables you to combat mouth breathing. MyoTape gently trains and encourages you to breathe through your nose while awake or when sleeping at night. This safe and innovative mouth tape was designed by world-renowned breathing expert Patrick McKeown. It gently holds your lips together, training the muscles around your mouth to keep it closed, while sleeping or awake.
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. Go to our online shop today to find the best MyoTape solution for you and start your journey to better, healthier breathing.
