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Natural Remedies for Snoring
When someone snores a lot, loudly, or both, it can be disruptive to their
sleep as well as the sleep of anyone else in the household - particularly the
bed partner of the person who snores.
Snoring is common for almost anyone once in awhile, and there are a variety of
simple things you can do to reduce the problems and sometimes eliminate them
as well.
Note, however, there is a serious condition called Sleep Apnea, which includes
very loud snoring. However, this condition actually blocks the airway completely,
so that the sleeper cannot even breath during the night. People with sleep
apnea often wake up several times an hour during the night because they've
stopped breathing, but they don't even usually realize they woke up. This condition
needs to be treated by a doctor.
For standard snoring, though, the problem is usually fairly simple. The muscles
of the throat and roof of the mouth are too relaxed and the airway is
restricted to one degree or another. Snoring is most common in men, because
they have narrower breathing passages than women do. There are many other
things that can restrict this passage as well, and these can be
addressed easily.
1. Lose weight. Most chronic snoring is caused by weight gain and flabbiness.
By losing a bit of weight, you often open the breathing airways so snoring is
reduced.
2. Change sleeping positions. The majority of snoring happens when people are
sleeping on their backs, because the airway is more restricted by the relaxed
throat muscles and tongue being pulled back by gravity. Sleeping on your
stomach or side usually relieves this problem.
Many people have a difficult time training themselves to not sleep on their
back, but there is an old remedy that works well: Sew a pocket or sock
onto the back of your sleep shirt or pajamas. Put several tennis balls into
that pocket. When you're sleeping, if you roll onto your back it will be very
uncomfortable, so you'll automatically change to a different position. Over
time, it will become a habit to not sleep on your back, then you can remove the
tennis balls.
Another way to change your sleeping position is to simply elevate the head of
your bed. Place bricks under the legs, or place rolled up fabric under the
head part of the mattress.
3. Avoid substances which relax your muscles. If you drink alcohol or take
allergy medications which make you sleepy, these will relax your muscles and
cause you to snore more. By simply avoiding these substances too close to
bedtime, you'll often reduce or eliminate the snoring problems.
4. Avoid milk. Milk will create more mucus in your system and this will in
turn increase your snoring problems. This is also why many people snore more
when they have a head cold or sinus problems, because the extra mucus blocks
the airways.
A simple herbal remedy to cut down mucus is to make a GoldenSeal tea, and use
that as nose drops. You can also snuff it up into your nose to cut mucus deeper
in your sinuses.
5. Exercise your mouth and throat muscles. A very easy way to do this is
simply sing out loud for 15-20 minutes each day.
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