Sleep Position and its Impact on Your Snoring

Everyone dreams of going home after a long day and ending it with a peaceful slumber, but most of the time, sleep won’t bring as much silence as you hoped. 

With snoring affecting roughly 90 million adults in the US, you may experience this nightly nuisance. Snoring is essentially caused by a blockage in the airway. This blockage causes the airflow to get caught and vibrate, which results in a loud noise.

Understanding your snoring and identifying the triggers to snoring can help improve your quality of life, as well as the quality of sleep of your loved ones. With that in mind, it’s worth starting with your sleep position and its impact on your sleep quality. 

Sleep Position and Snoring: What’s the Correlation?

When you fall asleep, your body starts to relax. The muscles in your body relax, including your tongue and jaw. The tongue falls back into the throat, while the jaw falls open. This relaxation causes the airway to narrow, which is why many people with sleep apnea or those who experience sleep deprivation suffer from snoring.

The tongue can fall back into the throat, which causes the throat to vibrate. The vibration of the throat creates a snoring noise, but generally, there are three key reasons behind your snoring when sleeping on your back:

• Your upper airway compresses as your jaw recedes;
• Your tongue falls back;
• Your upper airway takes on a more oval shape;

Sleeping on your back also causes the soft tissue around your throat, including the tonsils, to relax and sag. This can also narrow your airway, which can increase the likelihood of snoring. 

Sleeping on your side can also cause snoring, but it’s not as common, that’s why many people with sleep apnea are advised to sleep on their sides to prevent airway blockage.

Sleeping on Your Side: A Simple Solution to Reducing Snoring 

Sleeping on your side is one of the best ways to reduce snoring. This is because sleeping on your side lowers the chances of your tongue falling back into your throat, and it also keeps your throat from vibrating and producing a snoring noise. While sleeping on your side, you should only sleep on your side and not your stomach.

Changing your sleeping position can be understandably difficult as it means going against your habits, and in this case, one that has been ingrained for most of your life. If you’re struggling to change your sleeping position, these devices can help you make the adjustment: 

• Postural alarms
• Vibrating neckbands
• Special positioning pillows
• Bumper belts
• Modified nightshirts

The Bottom Line: The Importance of Consulting with a Sleep Doctor to Treat Sleep Apnea

Because snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea, it’s important to consult with a sleep doctor to treat your sleep apnea. If you’ve been suffering from snoring and haven’t seen a doctor, you should speak to your doctor as soon as possible.

A doctor will be able to answer all your questions and provide the best treatment options. These treatments include:

• Treating your sleep apnea with a mandibular advancement device

Treating your sleep apnea today!