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Is There Really a Permanent Treatment for Snoring?

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Tim Tylor
Is There Really a Permanent Treatment for Snoring?

      Snoring is an unavoidable plague for people. Whether you have it or have shared a room with someone who snores loudly, it is definitely not a good feeling and can disturb your sleep. The problem is that this is not all it can do, for some people it can even lead to serious health problems. In this article, we will explore the phenomenon of snoring and whether there really is a permanent treatment for it or if it’s just a lie. Let’s get right into it.

 

Why do I Snore?

           A lot of people snore, it isn’t exactly ground-breaking news. But you should know that there isn’t one universal reason why we snore. There are multiple health problems that influence this outcome. Because snoring is the vibration of tissue that happens in the upper airway, there are several reasons why this can happen:

           1) An obstruction in the nose such as a deviated septum, an allergic reaction, or a broken nose

           2) Large tonsils

           3) A tongue-based obstruction, etc.

Treatment Options for Snoring

           Firstly, we will go over the treatments that don’t have to involve surgery. Then we will go over the surgical treatments. Keep in mind that these at-home treatments alleviate the symptoms but are hardly considered a permanent solution.

           1) One option that you can opt for is getting nasal dilator strips. They are worn externally across the bridge of the nose and on the sides of the nostrils. Another option is getting inserts that go in the nose and expand the nasal valve.

           2) Then there are nasal resistance valves that are used to treat snoring by forcing resistance when you breathe out from the nose, thus creating pressure in the nose and behind it.

           3) Those that sleep on their back and snore can get a positioning device that helps you deal with the snoring. These devices can be belts or vests filled with foam or air. Head elevation devices can also reduce snoring.

           4) If you are currently struggling with a jaw misalignment, it can result in snoring. If you think this might be the case, we recommend that you head out to reputable dentist office such as church st Dental .

Surgical Treatment

           Here are a couple of proven surgical ways of heavily reducing or outright eliminating snoring.

         • Getting Palatal Implants

           This procedure involves a rigid fiber implant being surgically placed into the roof of the mouth. It is a relatively fast procedure that can be done in the office under small doses of anesthesia. The implant helps stiffen the palate in the mouth and lessens the overall vibration output and thus the snoring as well. The patient will feel slight discomfort for a while, but will, ultimately, make a fast recovery. In the case of an infection, a replacement will be necessary. But keep in mind that this procedure is expensive.

         • Getting Nasal Surgery

           A known cause of snoring is increased nasal congestion. If this is the case, treatment with other, more practical methods is hard to be successful. This can be a result of severe consequences of allergies, extensive smoking, and structural narrowing. If you have a deviated septum, you should opt for getting nasal surgery as you would benefit greatly from it. Just like with getting palatal implants, this procedure can be done in an office by using small doses of anesthesia.

         • Getting an

           Tonsils that are enlarged are a known cause of snoring and sleep disruption among younger kids. While the tonsils are less large in adults, this procedure can help adults deal with chronic snoring as well. This surgery, however, has to be performed in an operating room under general anesthesia. The recovery period is estimated to be around 1-2 weeks, differing from person to person. After the surgery, the patient will feel a sore throat for some time. A complication that can occur post-operation is bleeding, most often during the first week, but nothing more serious should happen.

Conducting a Sleep Study

           After your doctor has analyzed your situation, they may deem it worthy to conduct sleep studies on you in order to reach a more accurate assessment, especially if the problem proves to be more severe. A sleep study can also be conducted at home. Usually, if the problem is more severe, the doctor will insist that the sleep study be conducted in a sleep center where you will stay overnight. This is done so that they can conduct an in-depth analysis of your breathing during sleep – polysomnography. This usually looks like this: You are connected to a lot of sensors and are being observed while you sleep. Then, the team observes your sleep stages, heartbeat, body movements, breathing rate, brain waves, and blood oxygen levels.

Lifestyle Changes

           Hopefully, if the problem isn’t that severe, you won’t require surgery, instead, you need to implement some lifestyle changes. So, here are some important habit changes that you can implement in your daily life if you don’t want the problem any further:

           1) If you value your lungs, health, and not snoring, it might be time to stop smoking. A study has shown that smoking is a factor that contributes to the chance of a person snoring. This happens because it can cause swelling and it irritates the breathing passages.

           2) The use of muscle relaxants and sedatives has been connected to snoring and should be avoided.

           3) Alcohol might be an attribute that makes life more fun for most of us, but it also causes snoring to worsen. It can lower the tone of the muscles in the throat, causing snoring to become more frequent, and even worse, it can cause sleep apnea to occur. Now, this doesn’t mean you should stop drinking alcohol altogether (although, it might not be a bad idea). But it does mean that you should not drink it close to the time when you are going to sleep and not drink it too much.

           4) A quality change that you can do to help reduce snoring is by losing weight (optimally, between 5% - 10%). Now you have another great reason to go on that diet!

 

           As you can see, there are a lot of ways of dealing with snoring. Some will work, some will not, but it mostly depends on how well you have assessed the real reason for your snoring. The better the assessment means you can safely opt for the best solution to get rid of snoring permanently. Till next time!


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Tim Tylor
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