Anyone who has not slept with a snoring person will not really understand what this article is about. We are talking here about sleepless nights, nervousness, irritation, anxiety and broken relationships. My patients who face this problem, but especially their partners, have come to me many times for advice. Behind the real problem, in fact, was their desire to save their relationship, to find a way out of this whole nightmare.
“The chronically tired partner is more reactive to daily upsets, making run of the mill relationship issues more challenging.” Click this link to find out how snoring ruins relationships and what experts have to say about this problem: https://www.insidehook.com/article/sex-and-dating/snoring-destroying-your-relationship
The causes of snoring can be different, so the methods by which it can be stopped may not be so effective for everyone. I recommend that you try these methods below and choose the one that suits you best.
The first method is the simplest and most common. The reason for snoring may simply be the position in which a person is accustomed to falling asleep. When he sleeps on his back, the muscles of the upper respiratory tract are relaxed, their lumen narrows, which serves as a "barrier" for normal breathing. Turn him over on a side and get close to him so he doesn't roll back. If this simple trick helped, consider yourself lucky.
Use pillows to raise the head. Raising the head 10 cm with the help of one or two pillows, it will become easier for a person to breathe, and the tongue and jaw will move forward a little. You can buy special pillows to relax the muscles of the neck, which will reduce snoring or completely eliminate it.
Use a humidifier in the bedroom. Dry air irritates the nose and throat, leading to congestion and snoring. If your partner has swelling of the nasal tissues, then you should sleep with a humidifier on. Keeping the air moist at night will help you and your partner get a healthy, snoring-free sleep.
Rinse the nose before going to bed. If your partner suffers from nasal congestion, he can try rinsing his nose with saline before bed to help him breathe easier.
Diet and nutrition also play an important role. In some cases, snoring is associated with excessive consumption of spicy foods. Food irritates the throat and upper respiratory tissues and causes your partner to snore at night. Excess weight can also cause snoring: a large body weight presses on the neck and, accordingly, on the airways. Limit fried foods, especially at dinner, and add healthier foods to your diet.
Avoid food and alcohol a few hours before bed. Drinking alcohol a few hours before bed promotes relaxation and vibration of the airways after falling asleep. A late, heavy dinner can cause restless sleep associated with snoring and incessant bed tossing.
By regularly doing exercises to reduce snoring, you can achieve a lasting effect. One of the important components of the complex treatment of snoring are exercises for training the muscles of the palate, pharynx, larynx, which give good results and help to cure snoring.
- Push your tongue forward and down as far as possible; you need to feel the tension of the pharyngeal muscles at the very root of the tongue. Hold it extended for 1-2 seconds and at the same time pronounce the lingering sound “i:”. Perform twice a day for 30 times. Such gymnastics will strengthen the muscles of the palatine uvula, palate and tongue.
- Press your hand on your chin, forcefully move your lower jaw back and forth. The exercise is performed twice a day for 30 times. At the same time, the muscles of the lower jaw are trained, pushing it forward, which helps to reduce snoring and serves as a prevention of apnea.
- Strongly clamp a stick, wooden or plastic (pencil, pen) with your teeth, hold for up to 3-4 minutes. Do before bed. This exercise trains the pharyngeal and chewing muscles, reducing snoring at the beginning of falling asleep.
- Open your mouth, make 10-15 movements with the lower jaw clockwise and the same amount against.
- Breathing with a whistle trains the laryngeal and palatine muscles. When walking in the fresh air, try to breathe with a whistle. At the same time, the head should be held high, the shoulders should be straightened, the steps should be made of the same length. Exhale for 6-7 steps while whistling your favorite tune. Whistle like this for health for 25 minutes every day.
Find more helpful and effective exercises in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nq8YjWIIUI&t=706s
Convince your partner to see a doctor. The causes of snoring in most cases are various health problems. Don't wait for the problem to resolve itself. Try to persuade your partner to see a doctor and undergo an appropriate examination.