What does this mean?
During sleep the muscles of the neck and tongue relax and the airway becomes narrower. Air rushing through the narrowed section sets the soft palate, the uvula and the walls of the throat vibrating; the sound of snoring is that vibration. The louder the sound, the wider the area of tissue that is vibrating, but loudness does not tell you whether your breathing is stopping.
The detail that separates snoring from similar symptoms is whether the sound runs on without a break. In simple snoring the sound keeps the same rhythm all night, without interruption. In conditions where breathing becomes blocked during sleep, the sound cuts off suddenly, there is a silence of a few seconds, and then it starts again with a deep, muffled gasp. Those silent gaps, as described by whoever sleeps next to you, say far more than how loud the sound is.
Snoring gets louder when you lie on your back, when you have been drinking alcohol and when you take medicines that relax the muscles. A blocked nose, enlarged tonsils, a narrow upper jaw and a lower jaw set further back can also narrow the airway. A dentist can see the traces of that narrowing from the findings inside your mouth; whether your snoring includes pauses in breathing, however, is decided only by a sleep study.
Snoring is not the name of a single illness; it is the result of the airway having narrowed somewhere along its length. The headings below bring together the causes found most often in people who snore loudly.
Likely causes
What helps at home?
- Try sleeping on your side. When you lie on your back the base of the tongue falls backwards, and snoring becomes more obvious in most people.
- In the hours before bed, stay away from alcohol and from sleeping tablets taken without your doctor's knowledge; both relax the muscles of the throat.
- If your nose is permanently blocked, find out why. Having to sleep with your mouth open makes snoring worse.
- Do not use ready-made anti-snoring devices bought online without a proper fitting; appliances that have not been made to fit your mouth can move your teeth out of place and strain your jaw joint.
- If someone who sleeps beside you says there are gaps where your snoring stops and you are not breathing.
- If you wake at night choking, or as though you cannot get any air.
- If you fall asleep during the day at the wheel or in the middle of a conversation.
- If you wake with a headache in the mornings and feel unrested all day.
- If your blood pressure will not come under control despite the medication you take.
Frequently asked questions
- Does snoring always mean sleep apnoea?
- No. In some people who snore, breathing carries on without interruption all night; this is called simple snoring. In apnoea, the snoring is accompanied by pauses in breathing. Because the two can sound similar from the outside, telling them apart is usually done with a sleep study.
- Does losing weight reduce snoring?
- Fatty tissue around the neck presses on the airway from outside, so weight loss reduces the loudness of snoring in most people. Even so, snoring and pauses in breathing can also occur in slim people, so being a normal weight does not mean there is no problem.
- What can a dentist do about snoring?
- A dentist assesses the inside of your mouth and the structure of your jaws, and notes findings that could narrow the airway, such as a narrow palate, large tonsils, scalloped edges along the tongue and a lower jaw set further back. Whether an oral appliance is an option can only be discussed once a sleep study has been done and a sleep specialist has decided.
This content is for general information and does not replace an in-person examination. Symptoms overlap between conditions, and a diagnosis can only be made clinically.