Top 5 snoring articles
Can Diet and Exercise Eliminate Snoring?
Your physical fitness has an impact on almost every aspect of your life. Even those who are in relatively decent shape can often notice immediate boosts in energy, concentration, and overall well-being from losing as little as five pounds. Weight is a serious contributor to common snoring problems.
Many instances of snoring are the direct result of soft tissues in the throat that rattle and create noise as you sleep. That sound is what is known as snoring. Being overweight may cause those fatty tissues in the throat to enlarge, which restricts airflow to the lungs.
The problem with obesity and snoring, more specifically sleep apnea, is that it’s a vicious cycle you have to try to break. The worse your snoring is, the less likely you are to have a decent night’s sleep.
This means you aren’t rested when the day begins and are more likely to tire easily. Being tired all the time means you’re less likely to do the exercise that’s required to use the calories that have been consumed. An inability to exercise properly makes weight loss goals more difficult to achieve. Plus, we often munch on high-sugar sweets to get a burst of energy to help us get through the day when we’re tired.
The good news is that losing weight is a simple process. The bad news is that it isn’t easy. In order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you take in. Most of us don’t like to feel hungry all the time and very few like to eat like rabbits. Fruits and vegetables are a great way to get the nutrients you need without filling up on empty calories. They also help you feel full longer, which is important.
You’ll also find that water is your best friend when it comes to losing weight. Drink plenty of water regularly. Water helps your body cleanse itself from the inside out and it also helps you feel full.
When you aren’t hungry or thirsty, you’re less likely to consume “empty” calories, which are those that provide few nutrients that your body needs to survive. It isn’t easy and it isn’t fun to diet, but making these healthy lifestyle changes could save your life if you suffer from severe snoring and sleep apnea.
It doesn’t have to feel like exercise when you’re trying to burn calories. Try jumping on the trampoline for 30 minutes. Riding a bicycle, walking along the riverbank, climbing a rock wall (or a real cliff), swimming, rowing, and even roller skating or bowling can burn calories.
Obesity is a killer that’s blamed for countless bad health conditions. Knowing that it impairs so many aspects of your life, it shouldn’t be surprising that it also hampers sleep – one of the most important things regarding your health and well being. You don’t have to lose all the excess weight in a matter of days, but every pound you lose puts you one pound closer to better health and a good night’s sleep.
Snoring – Could It Be Serious?
Snoring is often the source of many jokes. In truth, it can actually be the hallmark of a rather serious health problem known as sleep apnea. There are different types of snoring and not all who snore suffer from sleep apnea.
If you’ve tried lifestyle changes such as losing weight and quitting or reducing smoking and alcohol consumption in addition to changing your sleeping position – all without results, then you may want to consult with a physician to rule out sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a condition in which you literally stop breathing several times throughout the night while sleeping. In some cases, the duration of an interruption is over a minute and the interruptions can occur as many as hundreds of times during any given night.
This condition can be fatal, so it’s important that you consult your doctor if you suspect that your snoring is more than a moderate irritation. You should also feel that your sleep is far less productive and feel tired throughout the day if you suffer from sleep apnea.
The good news for those who suffer from sleep apnea is that there are many treatments that are available that do not involve surgery. Chances are that your physician will want to try the less invasive methods before resorting to surgical procedures that may or may not be necessary in order to properly treat your case of sleep apnea.
The first step your doctor is likely to take is to identify the specific apnea that plagues your sleep. There are three different types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed. Obstructive is the one you will hear the most about since it’s the most common one.
Once your particular apnea is discovered, you and your physician will work out a treatment plan in order to correct or minimize your apnea. Common treatments for obstructive sleep apnea include behavioral changes such as diet and exercise, medications such as nasal sprays with steroids, thyroid replacement therapy medications, and weight loss medications, dental appliances and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines, which are devices that deliver constant air pressure through a facemask in order to keep the airways open.
While these devices and treatment options are not one size fits all, they can be highly effective when used either alone or in conjunction with other treatment options. Physical fitness tends to be a big problem for those with sleep apnea.
The cycle is vicious with the result of the apnea being a lack of energy that would be required in order to burn off the necessary calories to achieve weight loss. Talk to your physician if you’re overweight and suffering from sleep apnea. He or she may be able to prescribe medication for weight loss that will assist with both. The worst thing you can do for sleep apnea is to do nothing.
The First Steps to Stopping Snoring
There are many different types of treatment options for snoring issues. Some of them are more practical while still others are very advanced and complex in nature. Whether you’re a subscriber to the no-nonsense approach of grandma’s advice or prefer the miracles of modern science, there are many popular remedies for snoring cessation.
The most often recommended do-it-yourself treatments for snoring are to lose weight and change the position in which you sleep. Sleeping on your back actually encourages the soft palate to relax, which can obstruct the airway and lead to snoring.
By training yourself to sleep on your side, you can sometimes eliminate this particular reason for snoring. Grandma had it right, however, when she came up with the idea of using a tennis ball.
By using a safety pin and placing a tennis ball into a sock (then attaching the sock to the back of your pajamas), you have created an uncomfortable position for sleeping. Your natural response will be to turn from your side rather than sleep on the tennis ball. In time, it’s believed that you will have a natural tendency to sleep on your side rather than on your back and will no longer need the tennis ball.
Other home remedies for snoring include raising the head of the bed at least four inches. You can do this rather easily by placing rolled up towels below the mattress. This is believed to make breathing easier in addition to forcing your tongue and jaw slightly forward.
If you smoke, you’ll want to try to quit – or at the very least cut back on the amount you smoke each day. You should also limit your exposure to second-hand smoke. In some lines of work, this is more difficult than others. However, the less you’re exposed to smoke or second-hand smoke, the more relief you’ll have from snoring.
Of course, not everyone has the same faith in home remedies – and some have a different or more severe cause for their snoring. There is no treatment that’s one size fits all (if that were the case there wouldn’t be so many treatments).
Nasal strips are another option that have become popular for those who wish to treat their own snoring problems or are simply desperate for their partner’s snoring to go away. In addition to the nasal strips, some manufacturers of snoring products also have a spray for the back of the throat. You should try both products before deciding to give up altogether.
If these things aren’t working for your snoring problems or those of your partner, you have a more serious problem – such as sleep apnea. Under a doctor’s care, you can use oral appliances and facemasks to help combat the snoring problem and other related issues.
If you suspect sleep apnea, you should seek the care of a qualified medical professional immediately. This is a potentially life-threatening illness that should not be ignored. Snoring doesn’t have to ruin your social life or place your partner in another room. You can combat the effects of snoring if you’re willing to make the effort.
Surgical Options for Snoring
When it comes to snoring, there are many different methods of treatment that are tried in order to correct the problem. But there are occasions when the traditional methods of treating snoring don’t work in certain individuals.
In some of the more serious cases, surgical techniques are sought for treatment – but only as a last resort. There are several different types of surgical methods for the treatment of snoring. Some of these methods are far more invasive and result in a more difficult recovery than others.
Of the less invasive procedures, somnoplasty is receiving a little bit of good press. This procedure is minimally invasive by comparison to other surgical solutions. Somnoplasty is an outpatient procedure in which thermal energy is used to reduce and stiffen the soft tissue that can obstruct or vibrate in the upper airway.
The vibrations are often the cause of snoring. By eliminating the vibrations, snoring will lessen in severity and frequency as the result of these treatments. The pain involved in this procedure is limited and the recovery is often very short.
If your health is seriously at risk by problems such as sleep apnea and you’ve attempted and failed the traditional treatments, your doctor may recommend a uvulopalatopharyngoplasty or UPPP.
This is a procedure in which the obstructions in your airway are removed. This may also include the removal of tonsils and adenoids in order to minimize obstructions to your airway.
This treatment is not something that should be taken lightly. Only about 60% of those who have this surgery would be willing to go through it again. The recovery period is about three weeks and involves a small degree of discomfort when swallowing. UPPP is not hugely successful with a high percentage of those who have the surgery continuing to snore afterwards.
A more invasive surgery to assist those with serious problems resulting from snoring is nasal reconstructive surgery. This is essentially plastic surgery that reconstructs – not only the bone structure of the nasal cavity – but also removes soft tissue that may be limiting your ability to take in the proper amount of air. This procedure requires a fair amount of recovery time and should be considered with some degree of caution since it is considered major surgery.
As a last-ditch effort, some who suffer from snoring problems will resort to a tracheotomy for relief. This is a frightening procedure to undergo and highly invasive. With a tracheotomy, a tube is inserted into the windpipe in order to assist with breathing. This is not a preferred method of treatment and will in many ways become a new way of life for those who choose to undergo this particular procedure.
It’s important that you make a concentrated effort whenever possible to avoid the surgical procedures mentioned above since all surgery carries some degree of risk no matter how ‘minor’ the surgery is supposed to be. Discuss your options candidly and seriously with your physician before deciding that surgery is the only answer for you.
Kids’ Snoring Is on the Rise
Most parents, at some point during the night, sneak into the room and listen to their children sleeping as they check to make sure they’re safe and sound. For many parents, it’s the only time they manage to see their children peaceful and quiet. Unfortunately, there’s been a rather alarming increase in childhood snoring as well as sleep apnea that has many parents afraid for the health of their children.
The rise in childhood obesity is a definite issue to consider when evaluating possible causes in the rise in childhood snoring as well as sleep apnea. It’s a very logical explanation, particularly in light of the correlation between obesity and apnea in adults. There will probably be greater numbers of reported snoring among children who are overweight as well as an increased number of cases where the apnea is present.
There’s another possibility that is being given some considerable attention as well. NBC reported that some instances of sleep apnea in children could be the direct result of fewer tonsillectomies being performed.
The vast majority of sleep apnea cases are obstructive sleep apnea, which means that something is blocking the airways. It’s a logical conclusion that tonsils can be the culprits in many of these cases. Children who would have had their tonsils removed in decades past are keeping them, only to find that larger problems loom as the result.
Snoring in and of itself isn’t dangerous and there can be numerous reasons why your child is snoring. He or she could simply have a cold, which inhibits their ability to breath.
You could also find that your child is sleeping in a position that doesn’t provide the best possible environment for deep breathing that’s associated with sleep. Don’t panic if you’ve heard your child snoring for a night or two – just begin to pay attention.
If he quits breathing during the night and suddenly gasps for air or he’s becoming more and more tired throughout the day, you should consult your doctor immediately to rule out the possibility of sleep apnea.
Childhood sleep apnea is more than a health problem, though that alone is enough to worry most parents. It can inhibit learning and proper growth. A good nights’ sleep is vital to growing bodies and if your child isn’t breathing properly, he isn’t getting that restful sleep that’s so important.
A short attention span is one of many problems. This often exhibits itself in manners that are seen as behavioral problems and an inability to focus and concentrate on lessons and in school. Other problems that are associated with childhood sleep apnea include high blood pressure, obesity, and on the opposite end of the scale, an inability to gain weight properly.
Sleep apnea in children is no laughing matter. If you suspect that your child may have this problem, you should seek medical care immediately. If nothing else, you can work to rule out this life-threatening condition and obtain peace of mind. Otherwise, you have discovered the problem and can begin treating it before it’s too late.
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