Some day or other we all face snoring. It can happen in different ways. Being a child and staying at your grandparents, you can’t sleep because of their snoring. Being a student and living in a dorm, you hear your roommate snore. One night your wife wakes you and says you snore. You can add a story from your own experience here. The problem of snoring is very popular. Let’s look into what makes someone snore.
During sleep our throat muscles relax. Sometimes they relax in a way that narrows the airways and that’s what makes you snore. There are observations that you snore more if you have some physiological peculiarities like enlarged tongue, tonsils or adenoids, as well as being overweight.
What makes a person snore so loud is the vibration of the throat that strives for more air. The narrower the airway, the louder the person snores.
Does smoking make snoring worse?
Yes, it does. Smoking makes people snore worse. Fumes inhaled by a person while smoking harm the whole respiratory system, including upper airways. Smoking irritates the membranes inside the nose and throat causing hard breathing and snoring.
Recent studies found that everybody who currently smokes, used to smoke, lives with a smoker or even with an ex-smoker, has a higher chance of snoring.
According to WebMD, snoring affects 24% of smokers, 20% of ex-smokers, nearly 20% of nonsmokers who live with a smoker, and 13% of genuine nonsmokers. And, smoking is considered one of the predispositions for enlarged adenoids in adults. As mentioned, enlarged adenoids make you snore more, along with some other physiological features.
Does sleeping on your back make you snore?
Sometimes the wrong position makes you snore at night. The repose you take while sleeping can encourage or discourage snoring.
Have you ever seen a person snoring while sitting in an armchair? It’s quite common, in fact. When the neck relaxes and falls up, our tongue falls down and blocks the airway. As a result, the person starts snoring. The same mechanisms work when you sleep on your back.
If you’re want to know how snoring affects your health, try Goodsomnia Lab, an app that collects valuable sleep and snoring data for you and your doctor. A doctor can identify and eliminate the genuine reason for it. Maybe the wrong sleeping ‘style’ makes you snore.
