Treatment for snoring

Snoring is the bane of a lot of people's lives. Often laughed off it can be a very serious problem if it progresses to sleep apnoea. Lifestyle changes can often help to relieve the effects of snoring but there is other treatment that you can try.

Lifestyle Changes

Some of the lifestyle suggestions that your doctor might make that will help with snoring are:

• Loose weight if you need to
• Don't drink alcohol especially in the hours before you go to bed
• Give up smoking
• Take regular exercise to strengthen you neck muscles

Devices that help reduce snoring

If the problem of snoring still persists even after lifestyle changes have been made then you could try anti snoring devices that can be bought at the larger pharmacies or bought on line. These are some of the most popular and effective ones:

Nasal Devices

• Nasal Strip

  
  When the snoring is coming from the nose then nasal strips or even nasal dilators may help. Nasal strips are narrow pieces of self-adhesive tape that look like ordinary sticking plasters. Applying the nasal strip on the outside of the nose pulls the nostrils apart to stop them narrowing and giving rise to snoring when you sleep.

• Nasal Dilators

  
  A dilator is a plastic or a metal device that will look a little like a nose ring. This is placed inside the nose before sleep and will push the nostrils apart while you sleep.

Either one of these devices may be of help and although there has not been a lot of research into which is better, trial and error should show which is best for you.

Oral Devices  

• The Chin Strip

  
  If the snoring is coming from your mouth a chin-strap may help. A strip of tape is placed under your chin. This will help stop the mouth falling open while you sleep.

• The Vestibular Shield

  
  This is a device that looks like a gum shield and fits into the mouth blocking the flow of air and forcing you to breathe through your nose so that you do not open your mouth and start snoring.
  
  Again there isn't much scientific evidence to support either device over the other so seeing which is best for you with trial and error, will probably be best.

• The Mandibular Advancement Device (MAD)

  
  If your snoring comes mainly from the fact that the base of your tongue vibrates as air passes over it, then the mandibular advancement device might help. It is designed in away what will push your tongue and your jaw forward increasing the space at the back of the throat and allowing the airway to be wider so that the vibrating as air passes over the base of your tongue is reduced. One of these devices will cost about £200 - £300 and will help most cases of snoring that are not associated with breathing difficulties such as sleep apnoea.

Before you decide which device is best for you we recommend that you read literature that looks at all the different types of anti snoring device available. On the Internet you will find a lot of anti snoring device reviews to help you to make the right choice.