Why Do People Snore

The answer to why do people snore is obstruction of the airways.

As you fall asleep and progress to a deep sleep, the muscles in your mouth relax. These muscles include the roof of your mouth, known as the soft palate, as well as your tongue and throat.

As the throat tissues relax, they may partly obstruct your airway and vibrate as your breath passes over them.

Why do people snore really loudly? The narrower your airway, the more forceful the airflow will be. As your mouth and throat tissues vibrate more, your snoring will get louder. Snoring may happen occasionally, or it may be habitual.

What causes snoring

Mouth structure: A low and thick soft palate, or enlarged tonsils or adenoids, can narrow your airway. Similarly, if the piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate, known as the uvula, is elongated, it can obstruct airflow and increase vibration.

Excess weight: Obesity can contribute to snoring where the amount of neck fat increases, causing the airway to narrow further during sleep.

Smoking: Smoking contributes to congestion of the throat tissues. It can also increase acid reflux, causing throat irritation and therefore be a snoring cause.

Alcohol: Snoring can be brought on by consuming alcohol shortly before bedtime. Alcohol relaxes muscles and can cause throat muscles to loosen more.

Nasal problems: Chronic nasal congestion due to allergies and infections, or a crooked nasal partition (known as a deviated nasal septum) can cause nasal snoring. Snoring is more likely when you have a cold, sinusitis or stuffy nose. See the snoring strips page for a description of how nasal strips may provide some relief.

Sleeping tablets: Sedatives can cause muscles to relax more than usual, and result in snoring.

Sleep apnea: snoring may be due to obstructive sleep apnea. This is a serious condition where the throat muscles temporarily obstruct the airway entirely, stopping breathing. Sleep apnea is characterized by a pattern of loud snoring followed by periods of silence for about ten seconds or more. Eventually, the lack of oxygen and increased carbon dioxide cause the sleeper to wake, forcing the airway open and a loud snort of gasp as breathing resumes.

The typical snorer is male, aged between 30 and 65 years, overweight, may have high blood pressure, and told that snoring is worse after alcohol consumption.

Simple snoring treatments:

• Lose weight
• Avoid alcohol consumption, particularly before bedtime
• Avoid sleeping tablets
• Sleep on the side
• Treat nasal congestion
• Ensure bedroom air is neither too dry or humid
• Snoring surgery may be helpful for more extreme or stubborn cases; however, there is the chance that surgery may only work for a limited time or not at all. Surgery should not be considered a cure.

See the snoring remedies page for more details about how to stop snoring naturally.

You can get help from your doctor or a sleep disorder clinic. These answers to the question, "why do people snore", will hopefully prompt you to take some action.

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Photo by Logan Antill