What Causes Loud Snoring

Snoring is a relatively common disorder that occurs when the air you are breathing is unable to easily flow into your lungs, disrupting the sleep of those around you. It is often a loud noise that sounds like grumbling, snorting, whistling, or rattling. Even though snoring is common and infrequent for most individuals, snoring can be a chronic disorder for some.

While quiet or occasional snoring is harmless, frequent, loud or persistent snoring can increase your risk for health issues or even indicate a more serious health problem. When snoring becomes a nightly occurrence daytime sleepiness can occur.

Is Snoring Normal?

Snoring refers to the snorting, rattling, whistling, or grumbling sounds that most people make while sleeping due to an obstruction of their airway. These noised can range from light and gentle snuffles to roaring snorts and loud rasps. Approximately 45% of adults snore on an occasional basis, while 25% snore regularly to the extent where they often disrupt their own sleep along with their sleeping partner’s sleep. Your chances of snoring significantly increase as you age, if you are male, are overweight, or are postmenopausal.

The question remains, if you are sleeping next to someone who snores like a freight train, is this something to be concerned about? While the majority of people might consider these noises annoying or funny, snoring may actually be a more serious health condition that requires immediate attention. Loud snoring in combination with rapid body movements can be an indication of a more serious and concerning sleep disorder which should be checked by your doctor immediately.

Symptoms of Snoring

The sound of snoring differs from one person to another, but it mostly sounds like:

Rumbling
Whistling
Snorting
Grumbling

Additionally, individuals who snore may also experience the following symptoms:

Tossing and turning throughout the night
A feeling of exhaustion throughout the day
A sore or dry throat in the morning
Headaches
Difficulties concentrating
Irritability

Why Do People Snore?

According to Dr. Sara Bakhtiar, who is one of Houston Methodist’s renowned primary care physicians, the vibration of tissue in the nasal and throat passages of an individual can cause snoring. This obstruction of the airway limits breathing, and can be caused by a vast range of factors such as:

Age

The frequency and intensity of snoring increases with age as the muscle tone decreases, causing the airway to shrink

Obstructed Airway

When the flow from the throat and nose is obstructed it can cause snoring. This blockage can be from many different issues like a deviated septum, nasal congestion, enlarged adenoids, enlarged tonsils, sinus infection, or even nasal polyps.

Poor Muscle Tone

Muscle tone is the most common reason for an individual to snore. Muscle tone plays a significant role in maintaining the airway and keeping it open during sleep. When muscle tone becomes poor or compromised, the airways become more susceptible to collapse, creating turbulent airflow that leads to snoring. This is how muscle tone affects snoring:

Upper Airway Muscles

The muscles in your tongue and throat play a vital role in keeping the airway open while asleep. If the muscle tone in these areas becomes weak, the airway will narrow and collapse.

Tongue Muscle

Several muscles are responsible for anchoring the tongue to the base of the mouth. When these muscles become relaxed and elongate more than usual the tongue will fall backwards, and block the airway. These muscles weaken with aging and from alcohol consumption, sleep aids, and other specific medical conditions.

Palatal Muscles

Muscles connecting to the uvula and soft palate at the top of the mouth and at the back of the throat can relax during sleep which can block the flow of air.

Excess Weight

Obesity dramatically increases the risk of snoring. Sleep-related breathing disorders and snoring are prevalent in overweight and obese individuals, BMI between 25 to 30 or greater than 30 respectively. The additional fatty tissue around the throat and neck exert excessive pressure on the airway, causing it to narrow, which results in snoring.

Family History

If a biological parent has a history of snoring there is a relatively high chance their child will snore as well.

Sleep Position

When individuals sleep on their back they will often have their soft palate and tongue collapse against the back of the throat, which obstructs the flow of air and causes snoring.

Alcohol and Sleep Aids

These substances significantly intervene with the brain’s ability to control a person’s breathing and sleeping patterns. Sleep aids or the consumption of alcohol also causes the loss of tone in muscles of the throat.

Smoking

Smoking is a major contributor to inflammation in tissue lining the throat. This ultimately causes congestion in the nose and airways which lead to obstructions.

Life-Threatening Issues Related to Snoring

Snoring can be linked with more serious and even life-threatening health issues. These can include:

Sleep Apnea

Snoring, especially the loud and erratic type categorized by snorts, pauses in breathing, or gasps. This indicates a struggle to breathe and is a common indicator of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Sleep apnea is a condition where your breathing stops during sleep. Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a more serious condition that puts you at increased risk for heart disease.

Sleep apnea patients experience multiple but brief interruptions in breathing throughout the course of the night. In severe cases of sleep apnea, these pauses in breathing can occur as frequently as 30 or more times per hour. Consequently, the blood oxygen levels crash and the brain signals the body to wake from deep sleep to prevent hypoxia or even death. People with sleep apnea understand the feeling as if someone is waking them from sleep every few minutes.

Sleep apnea is a serious condition that causes the heart and cardiovascular system to work harder at night when it should be recovering from daytime activity. Individuals with OSA will typically feel tired and have a general lack of energy throughout the following day because their body was working to keep them alive all night.

If snoring occurs together with apneic episodes, waking up with a jerking motion or gasping for air, it is important to seek medical help. It is important to note that not all episodes of snoring are involved with obstructive sleep apnea. However, if snoring is accompanied with one or more of the following symptoms, it is better to consult with a doctor for OSA.

Pauses in breathing
Morning headaches
Restless sleep
Excessive daytime sleepiness
Loud snoring that disrupts your partner’s sleep
Sore throat
Choking or gasping for air
Difficulty concentrating
Chest pains

According to John Hopkins research, middle aged patients with severe sleep apnea are 46% more likely to pass away prematurely. However, CPAP and Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT) are excellent treatment options for patients that can help eliminate or reverse the health risks caused by OSA.

Sleep Deprivation

Snoring decreases your quality of sleep and goes far beyond just feeling tired throughout the day. Proper sleep is essential to maintaining good health and your overall well being.
Getting adequate sleep is essential to the body’s recovery from any illness or injury. Insufficient sleep over a consistent period of time is often associated with a myriad of health issues like heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s just to name a few.
Sleep deprivation is dangerous to your health because individuals who are not getting adequate sleep may notice their throat muscles start to relax excessively, which ultimately contributes to snoring and eventually obstructive sleep apnea.

Complications of Snoring

Even though snoring alone does not create any health risks, it is a leading indicator for sleep apnea which does have significant health risks. Some of these serious health risks associated with obstructive sleep apnea are:

Waking up multiple times throughout the night. This causes a significant amount of sleep time spent in light sleep rather than restorative deep and REM sleep.
Unconscious sleep waking. This is waking up repeatedly from your sleep cycle without realizing it causing breaks in your sleep pattern.
Chronic sleep apnea often increases your blood pressure which can lead to atrial hypertrophy (enlarged heart) and increases your risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Poor sleep quality leads to excessive tiredness throughout the following day. This is a common symptom that significantly affects your quality of life.
High blood pressure
Irregular heartbeat
Increased risk of diabetes
Significantly increase risk of heart attack or stoke

Young Man Snoring While Sleeping in Bed at Night. Sleep Disorder

How to Diagnose Snoring

Unless you are recording your sleeping patterns throughout the night, your sleeping partner may be the best person to inform you of your snoring problem. If you do not share a bed with someone, your body will most likely start informing you there is a problem.

Some of the most obvious signs of snoring include a feeling of excessive tiredness upon waking in the morning, morning headaches, sore throat, or dry mouth. It is important to visit a healthcare professional if you have any of these symptoms. It is important to be open with your doctor about your medical history so they can conduct a thorough examination and look for signs of airway obstruction. A short list of things your doctor should look for are a deviated septum, persistent nasal congestion from sinusitis or rhinitis, swollen tonsils, or an enlarged tongue. Your doctor may also prescribed additional tests such as:

Imaging Tests

An MRI scan, CT scan, or X-ray to detect any underlying issues in your airways.

Sleep Study

This is the most common test. These tests can be performed in an overnight sleep clinic or in the comfort of your own home, depending on the severity of your symptoms. This test measures your breathing pattern, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, and brain activity while sleeping. This can determine not only the severity of your sleep apnea but also the type of apnea you have, obstructive vs central.

How to Treat Snoring

If you are suffering from any of the symptoms mentioned above it is important to seek professional help from your doctor as soon as you can. In the meantime, here are some simple remedies that may help to decrease your snoring tendencies:

Exercises

There are specific jaw exercises that may help strengthen your tongue and throat muscles in order to minimize snoring.

Lifestyle Modifications

Decreasing alcohol intake prior to or close to bedtime, sticking to a consistent sleep schedule, losing weight, and quitting smoking or vaping. Sleep position also has a significant effect on snoring, try sleeping on your side.

Nasal Strips

Nasal strips can help to hold open or widen your nostrils. These nasal strips stick to the bridge of the nose and allow you to sleep better. These are especially useful if you suffer from snoring caused by congestion and seasonal allergies.

More advanced treatments for snoring include:

CPAP Therapy

CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy is the most common treatment option for patients suffering from snoring and sleep apnea. CPAP therapy requires sleep apnea patients to wear a mask connected to a machine. This machine pumps air into the mask and your airway while you sleep, and prevents the airway from collapsing.

CPAP therapy is incredibly effective and is known for being the gold-standard treatment for treating sleeping disorders like sleep apnea. However, it is uncomfortable and bulky to wear which often discourages people from using it consistently. On average 50% of patients either discontinue CPAP use or wear it less than 4 hours per night.

Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT)

OAT offers sleepers a more enticing alternative as it allows them to wear a small custom-fitted medical grade mouthguard in their mouth during sleeping. Oral devices are a more progressive treatment option that allow the sleeper’s airway to stay open naturally by gently moving their tongue or jaw slightly forward.

Unlike CPAP therapy, oral devices are comfortable, portable, easy-to-use, and non-invasive. Moreover, they have significantly higher compliance rates among sleep apnea patients, potentially making them a more effective treatment method.

Surgery

There are several kinds of surgeries and procedures that can help to minimize or stop snoring. Your healthcare profession can shrink or remove the tissues in your throat, stiffen the soft palate, all of which can help to eliminate snoring but are more invasive and not a guarantee. Even after surgery the tissue can change over time causing you to start snoring again.

Why OAT Is Superior To CPAP Therapy

Despite both OAT and CPAP therapy’s effectiveness in managing sleep apnea and snoring, the OAT boasts an array of advantages that make it a superior treatment option.

1. Convenience and Comfort

Oral Appliance Therapy is a custom designed oral devices that is non-intrusive and extremely portable. They ensure the sleeper receives maximum comfort during sleep without bulky equipment or noisy machines.

2. Versatility

Oral devices can be used to treat most forms of obstructive sleep apnea and snoring, including people who dislike or can’t use CPAP.

3. More Significant Compliance Rates

Oral devices are much easier to use which leads to more consistent use among patients. This ultimately promotes enhanced treatment outcomes when compared to CPAP therapy.

4. Better Quality of Life

Minimizing snoring and ensuring a calmer and more restful sleep, Oral Appliance Therapy enhances your daytime functioning. This leads to an overall improvement in mental and physical health.

When To See A Doctor

If you find yourself snoring, it is vital to seek advice from a healthcare professional because there could be an underlying sleep disorder such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Medical checkups from your doctor play a crucial role in proper diagnosis, treatment, and management. Your primary-care-provider is usually the initial point of contact as they can easily assess your symptoms and suggest the first steps. Some healthy lifestyle modifications such as losing weight, changing your sleeping positions (sleeping on the side instead of the back), preventing use of sedatives or alcohol before bed, or simply maintaining a regular and consistent sleep schedule are the first steps.

These changes go a long way to minimize light snoring and enhance your quality of sleep. Nonetheless, if these techniques are not working and your snoring persists, or if your symptoms indicate an underlying obstructive sleep apnea problem, your primary care provider may guide you to consult with a specialist for further evaluation.

OSA symptoms such as pauses in breathing, daytime sleepiness, gasping or choking during sleep are all abnormal signs of snoring and indicate a more serious issue. You should contact your primary care doctor to discuss these symptoms and see if they are as soon as you can.

Finally, as far as pediatric snoring is concerned, it is crucial to consult with a pediatrician that understands health complications from sleep apnea. Children are also prone to experiencing OSA at an early age, mainly due to developing issues like childhood obesity, enlarged adenoid or tonsils. Through proper understanding of these issues ahead of time you can help to prevent your child from increased complications in the future to ensure proper development.

If you are looking for assistance with sleep-related issues such as sleep apnea and snoring, Midwest Sleep Center can be a valuable resource for you. As a specialized sleep apnea center, we provide an all-inclusive evaluation and management for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea through the use of an oral appliance. Rest assured, you can find a custom solution for your snoring and sleep apnea issue.

If you are tired of trying to overcome sleepless nights and the inconvenience of CPAP, head over to midwestsleepcenter.com and explore the revolutionary potential of OAT.