Snoring, you know….that thing your dad does when he falls asleep in the recliner, or your husband does after a few drinks. Or maybe you know you do it….but you are in snoring denial. Snoring never seems to bother the snorer…just those that happen share a room with that person. Most people consider it normal, but is it??
The quick answer is NO. But lets look a little more into it.
And since I’m all about being real…Yes, this flattering picture is me (taken on a trip with friends in India)….and yes, I snore. However, I am currently on a mission to fix that…and why I want so badly to share what I am learning.
What is snoring exactly? Snoring is a clinical symptom of something called sleep disordered breathing (SDB). Sleep disordered breathing encompasses several breathing abnormalities including upper airway resistance syndrome, and sleep apnea. We will discuss these in more detail in later blog posts.
Snoring results from changes in the upper airway that, in a sense, are due to a decrease in size or collapse of the upper airway (this can be due to an anatomic size abnormality). Tissues that normally should not touch, end up becoming close or touching creating a vibration known as snoring. There are many ways that snoring can occur. Some reasons why snoring can occur are: A collapse in the airway itself due to lack of tonicity. Excess weight around the neck (due to being overweight or obese) applying pressure onto the airway. Inadequate anatomic airway size. It can also be caused to improper tongue position (sitting down and back), or a longer than normal soft palate. And if that isn’t enough… to compound the problem, if you are breathing through your mouth and the tissues become dry they because much more likely to stick together because they are no longer hydrated and moist (yep….I just used that word).
Unfortunately, as we grow older we lose muscle tone….which make us more prone to snoring. We often gain weight as we get older….which applies more weight and stress to the airway. Double whammy!! And no….it isn’t just a man thing. Women, as we go through menopause our hormones change….and as it was said to me oh so nicely by my mentor….”if the airway problems aren’t corrected before menopause, you will become a fat old man”. Snoring tends to be more of a male issue….until menopause and then it also becomes a female issue. And with that we also see an increase in cardiovascular disease in women….which can also be linked to sleep disordered breathing. We’ll talk more about this later.
One thing I do want to say with conviction is….even though snoring is not good in adults….it is NEVER normal in children.
Lets figure out what is causing the snoring… Is in inability to breathe through the nose? Is it enlarged tonsils? Is it poor tongue position? Is it weight? Is it an anatomic problem? Lets fix the problem if we can….rather than trying to manage it later in life with something like a cPAP. We’ll dive more into this when we discuss sleep apnea.