John Lenaghan
Many people have a snoring problem, but most of them don't really know exactly what is causing it, let alone how to fix it.
One of the more common causes of snoring is alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant. It travels throughout your body and slows down your brain's response times. Plus, it relaxes your muscles more than normal, even while sleeping.
When your muscles are more relaxed, that includes your neck and throat. When the muscles in the back of your throat - your orophanyx - are relaxed, they can collapse more easily which leads to the airway being partially or completely blocked, and ultimately to snoring.
An even more serious threat to snorers however, is that alcohol can cause a temporary case of sleep apnea in people who already snore. Sleep apnea is a condition where you stop breathing for a short time while asleep.
This temporary sleep apnea is not the same as a primary case - it only happens when someone who already snores drinks alcohol shortly before going to sleep.
If you've woke up in the middle of the night after drinking feeling short of breath, or you feel extremely tired or lethargic the next day, it could be a symptom of alcohol-induced sleep apnea. Without changing your habits, the problem could become worse and ultimately lead to a more serious case of sleep apnea.
Alcohol is also known to irritate the nasal passages as well as to cause nasal congestion, which can also lead to snoring problems. If you're not able to stop drinking entirely, it will help if you stop drinking at least 4 hours before going to sleep. This let's your body process the alcohol and it will lessen the effects while you sleep.
Sleeping pills can cause similar problems to alcohol. They affect your body in much the same way, leading to the same potential problems.
And remember - when you snore it may be affecting more than just you. It has been shown that bedmates of a snorer can lose up to an hour of sleep every night due to being awakened by the snoring noise, as many as 21 times per hour.
John Lenaghan writes about the top snoring remedies and other snoring related topics for the Snoring Solutions website. For more information visit http://www.snoringsolutions.org.
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