Snoring is one of the most common signs of sleep apnea; as a result, many people assume that if you make a lot of noise while you’re asleep, you may be experiencing an obstruction as well. In reality, while it’s possible the two can be connected, it’s not always the case. Read on to learn what causes snoring and when you should consider seeing a professional for help.
What Causes Snoring?
To determine why you snore, it’s important to look at your overall health, lifestyle habits, and facial development. Snoring can be caused by:
- Nasal/sinus congestion
- Sleeping on your back
- Obesity
- Nasal polyps
- Smoking or using any kind of tobacco products
- Alcohol consumption
- Using sedatives
- Enlarged tonsils, tongue, or adenoids
- Deviated septum
- Underactive thyroid
If you suffer from one or more of these symptoms, you may want to seek professional help to determine if your case might be more serious.
Is Snoring Always Connected to Sleep Apnea?
Just because you snore doesn’t necessarily mean that you also have sleep apnea. The two can be connected, but not always.
While snoring is considered a problem because of the loud noise that can disrupt your bed partner, if it doesn’t inhibit your ability to breathe – it doesn’t cause you to wake up choking or gasping for air – throughout the night, it’s not necessarily a “serious” issue.
However, if you wake up multiple times each night due to an obstruction in your airway that causes you to be unable to breathe, there’s a good chance you may be suffering from sleep apnea. Other symptoms might include chronic fatigue, moodiness, high blood pressure, depression, difficulty focusing at work, etc.
What Kind of Professional Help is Available?
Treating snoring and/or sleep apnea is possible with the help of a trusted sleep dentist. Their expertise allows them to not only identify the most common symptoms but also recommend a sleep study to determine if there is a more serious problem, like sleep apnea.
After analyzing the data collected from the study, they can suggest appropriate treatment, whether it is lifestyle changes, like exercising, eating a healthier diet, or giving up smoking and alcohol use, or wearing a CPAP device or oral appliance to reduce the effects of sleep apnea.
Snoring doesn’t have to come between you and your spouse or bed partner. Instead, you can get expert help to improve your symptoms and overall health while also enjoying a quieter night’s rest.
About the Practice
Our team at Star Sleep & Wellness in McKinney understands the kind of stress a snoring partner can have on a person’s life. Not only is the one making all the noise experiencing poor sleep quality, but so is the other individual having to listen to it. This is why we are here to provide the evaluation and treatment needed to improve everyone’s nightly rest. If you’ve learned that your snoring is preventing your loved one from getting essential sleep, contact us to schedule an appointment.