Tips To Stop Snoring

By Tara Fraser

It’s annoying, it’s loud, and it leaves its listeners without a good night’s sleep. It’s snoring, and whether it’s you who has the affliction or you sleep next to someone who can make the drapes moving with their inhaling and exhaling, it’s time to do something about it.

Snoring may result from sleep apnea (cessation of breathing during sleep), but more often than not, it results from habits and behaviors that, if changed, may stop the noise for good.

If you’re the one who gets the complaints about your snoring, then the following tips will help you to stop snoring. If it’s your man who has the problem, then it’s up to you to make sure that he learns what he needs to do if he wants to keep you in his bed.

Stop snoring tips #1
Lose weight
It sucks to hear it, but people who are overweight tend to snore more so than those who are at a healthy weight. And don’t get me wrong, you don’t have to be a cow to snore; being 30% over your ideal body weight (it’s 20% for men) may result in snoring.

Of course, you don’t necessarily have to be overweight to be a snorer, but if you are a snorer and overweight, dropping the pounds via exercise and healthy eating will curb it.

And you don’t even have to be fat to snore; if you’re not active in your daily life, there’s a very good chance that you will be a snorer, so get out there and try to walk for at least an hour a day.

Stop snoring tips #2
Don’t drink alcohol
If you habitually have a glass of wine with dinner, that may increase your chances of snoring at night. When you drink, it relaxes the tongue and throat muscles, resulting in partially blocked air movement as you breathe, which leads to snoring.

If you already snore, this will make the situation worse and if you don’t usually snore, drinking can contribute to this new sleep behavior. So do your best to avoid the devil’s soup and if you do end up drinking, drink lots of water before you hit the sack.

Stop snoring tips #3
Quit smoking
There’s a good chance that, if you’re a smoker, you’ll likely be a snorer as well. Why? Well, because of the effects cigarette smoking has on the nasal passages and sinuses.

If you quit smoking, all your problems with snoring (among other things) would resolve themselves, but that’s likely asking a lot of you. If you’re not up for quitting this very minute, then at least give yourself a cut off time each evening – say four hours before you go to bed.

And if you don’t smoke, you’d do best to avoid exposing yourself to secondhand smoke; it has the same detrimental effect when it comes to sleepy time.

It may not curb your snoring entirely, but it will help.

Stop snoring tips #4
Sleep on your side
If you’re a heavy snorer, there’s a good chance that, no matter what position you end up sleeping in, you’ll continue to snore. But if you are a moderate snorer, then sleeping on your side could help eliminate those nasty sounds you keep making.

Moderate snorers tend to snore when they sleep on their backs. If you habitually sleep on your back, you could opt to sew a ball onto the back of your nightwear in order to avoid doing so (sounds comfortable, I know).

Stop snoring tips #5
Avoid pillows
Some people tend to sleep on a bunch of pillows, but anything that elevates your head and neck, and throws off the natural line of your spine, tends to make you snore.

If you absolutely cannot avoid using pillows when you sleep, invest in a Tempur-Pedic pillow; this pillow allows you the use of a pillow but keeps your body aligned correctly.

Stop snoring tips #6
Deal with allergies
For some women (and men), snoring only occurs when allergy season rolls around. And because you can’t eliminate your allergy, you will have to attack your snoring from another angle.

When you notice your hay fever acting up, take a nasal decongestant (but consult your physician if you’re already taking a prescribed medication). This will help clear your air passages and limit the snoring.

Stop snoring today

Snoring is not usually harmful, but there’s no doubt that if you have to endure the sounds night after night, you’d want to do something about it, and smothering someone with a pillow is still not legal in most states.

And if you’re the culprit behind the noise at night, I’m pretty sure you’d want to do something about it because snoring is right up there with farting and burping - it just doesn’t sound right on a woman.

Should your efforts to curb your snoring not work, consult your physician to discuss medical solutions.