by M. Lee

Created on: January 24, 2008

Your Lifestyle May Cause Your Snoring

Snoring has many causes such as bad sleeping posture, drinking alcohol, smoking, and overeating. If you could reduce your snoring by making a few lifestyle changes, would you?

What would you do to stop snoring? Would you change the way you live your life if it meant a peaceful night's sleep for you and your partner? Snoring is not just a minor inconvenience while you try to sleep. Snoring is your body desperately attempting to draw in air while you sleep. Snoring can alter your sleep patterns and cause changes in mood and alertness during the day. Your lifestyle may actively contribute to your snoring habit, which could be hurting you.

Snoring is often the result of overindulgence in certain things. For example those people who overindulge in alcoholic beverages, food, or smoking tend to snore more than those who partake in these things in healthy moderation. Reducing the amount that you drink, smoke, or eat can have a positive effect on your snoring habits.

General Causes of Snoring

Some causes of snoring are purely physical, while others are a direct result in how you live your life. Allergies and a stuffy nose are causes of snoring, and usually can be alleviated with medication or improved health. A physical deformity, such as a deviated septum, can also contribute to the occurrence of snoring.

Although some causes of snoring are physical, many are direct results of indulgences in your life. If you overeat (or are overweight) and do not exercise sufficiently, you may begin to snore. Drinking too much alcohol, taking sleeping pills, smoking cigarettes, and bad sleeping posture can also affect the instance of snoring.

Overeating and Snoring

When you overeat, you gain weight. When you gain weight, your body does not pick and choose the areas in which the fat is deposited. Too much fat in the throat area is a direct contributor to snoring. Another cause of snoring, aside from overeating, is not enough exercise. Typically if you overeat, you may not have the tendency to exercise sufficiently. Weak muscle tone in the throat can increase snoring as well.

Alcohol and Snoring

Usually, those people who drink alcohol snore. When you ingest too much alcohol, the body slows its metabolism as well as the brain's reaction time. This physical effect of drinking will cause your throat muscles to relax more than normal, thus resulting in snoring when the oropharynx collapses. Additionally, alcohol causes congestion, which is also a cause of snoring. Any type of blockage will contribute to snoring.

Sleeping Posture and Snoring

The position you sleep in has a direct affect on if you snore or not. People who sleep flat on their back tend to snore more than those who do not. The reason why snoring occurs more often while you sleep flat on your back is that your tongue, chin, and excess fat around the throat area will relax and squeeze the airways thus resulting in snoring. If you want to avoid snoring, try sleeping on your side.

Nasal Problems and Snoring

Anytime there is any nasal blockage, there is a high chance of snoring. Breathing through an open mouth while you are sleeping can cause snoring as well. However, if you suffer from nasal congestion or breathing problems at night, there are medications such as nasal sprays that can help alleviate the problem. Many of these nasal sprays can be used for long periods of time with very little side effects.

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