Snoring Treatments
1300 101 505Treating Snoring
1300 101 505The Problem with Snoring?
Snoring can have a huge impact on relationships, with many couples sleeping in separate bedrooms. Many people also go to the expense of booking separate rooms when travelling.
Snoring is a sign of airway obstruction and can be associated with a medical condition called sleep apnoea, which could also be affecting your health, leading to hypertension, heart disease and diabetes. Reducing or removing snoring will not only decrease your risk of serious medical conditions such as heart disease and stroke, it can also improve your relationships and the sleep of those close to you.
What is Snoring?
The Most Effective Treatment For Snoring
Oral appliances are now universally regarded by sleep physicians, ENT’s and other experts in the field as the best available treatment for snoring and one of the only two frontline treatments for sleep apnoea.
Oral appliances are worn during sleep and work by holding the jaw slightly forward so the tongue and tissues at the back of the throat don’t collapse and obstruct the airway during sleep and are no longer collapsing into the passage of airflow.
A study at SleepWise Clinic*, involving 116 consecutive patients who have completed treatment, demonstrated that 111 were satisfied with the improvement in their snoring following the use of a customised, adjustable oral appliance. The majority of these patients had adapted well to their appliance and were feeling more refreshed on waking and less sleepy during the day.
According to the Australian Dental Association, and based on extensive research, “95 per cent of people will have an improvement in the level of their snoring when using an oral appliance.”
Read more about oral appliances. CPAP is usually not recommended for overcoming snoring, given oral appliances are so much more comfortable and unobtrusive.
What Else Might Be Helpful?
Surgery
Surgery is not usually a first-line treatment for snoring and sleep apnoea. It may involve cutting and tightening the soft tissues in the throat.
Post-operatively it is usually associated with severe pain, and studies show that it is only 30-50% effective in stopping snoring. The side-effects can include altered tone of voice and regurgitation of food. For these reasons, surgery is rarely a preferred treatment for snoring by sleep physicians in Australia.
Unproven & ineffective treatments
There are other treatments offered on the internet and in stores which include one size fits all ‘Boil and Bite’ devices, nasal strips, sprays, pillows, rings etc. These methods are unproven, are generally regarded as ineffective, and not recommended by sleep physicians, ENT’s and other medical specialists.
Sleep Position
Elevating the head of your bed and avoiding sleeping on your back may be helpful in ensuring your tongue does not fall back into the throat and reduce the airway size when sleeping. We can help you with strategies to help you sleep on your side.
Weight Loss
If you are overweight, weight reduction may improve your snoring. Weight gain deposits fat into and around the soft palate, tongue and neck structures consequently reducing the size of the airway. Weight loss can reduce these fat deposits and enlarge the airway size thereby reducing snoring. Although weight loss is beneficial, it is usually insufficient as a treatment option to overcome all problematic snoring.
Substances to avoid
Alcohol and most sleeping pills relax the muscles of the throat and can worsen snoring and sleep apnoea. You should avoid alcohol for at least three hours prior to bedtime. Smoking and caffeine can also worsen snoring and sleep apnoea, due to swelling of the nasal and throat tissues.
Unproven & ineffective treatments
There are other treatments offered on the internet and in stores which include unfitted ‘Boil and Bite’ devices, nasal strips, sprays, pillows, rings and the Buteyko breathing technique. These methods are unproven, are generally regarded as ineffective, and not recommended by sleep physicians.
