The day has been hard, and you finally get time to lie down at night, anticipating a peaceful slumber. But the loud snores of your partner are getting on your nerves, building a frustration inside that leaves you feeling irritable. You may wish you had gone to sleep before the snorer, using earplugs to block out the noise.
Sounds relatable?
A group of researchers from Finland conducted a study related to the effect of snoring on patients and bed partners. They concluded that the bed partners of half of the snorers who were a part of the study reported disrupted sleep. The habit of snoring is, thus, a trouble for two! To help you and your partner get some much-needed quiet sleep, we will guide you on how to stop someone from snoring in this article.
Key Takeaways
- Encourage side sleeping and the use of anti-snoring mouthpieces like VitalSleep for immediate snoring reduction.
- Implement lifestyle changes such as weight management, quitting smoking, and reducing alcohol intake to lessen snoring.
- Use white noise machines or earplugs to block out snoring sounds for uninterrupted sleep.
- Consult a healthcare provider for persistent snoring, as it may indicate underlying health issues.
- Consider sleeping in separate rooms as a last resort to ensure both partners get a good night’s sleep.
The Real Health Consequences of Snoring
When your bed partner is snoring, the consequences are beyond mere annoyance for both of you. This habit can strain a relationship, leading to sleep deprivation, frequent arguments, and irritability. It can even compel you to consider separate sleeping arrangements, negatively impacting intimacy and emotional connection between you and your partner.
Addressing snoring through simple lifestyle changes and seeking medical help can help reduce it effectively, eliminating health issues and restoring harmony in your relationship. According to a study by Mayo Clinic, people who snore cause their partners to wake up as much as themselves. It was found that reducing snoring improved the sleep quality for both partners.
Health implications for snorers:
- Daytime sleepiness
- Inability to concentrate
- Weakened immunity
- Hypoxia: a condition described as decreased oxygen level in the blood
- Elevated risk of stroke and heart attack
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a condition where airways are obstructed with excess tissue growth in the throat.
The shortened sleep time as a result of your partner’s snoring can bring on the following repercussions for you:
- Disturbed nighttime sleep
- Daytime drowsiness
- Lacking concentration
- Dysregulated mood
- Short and long-term memory issues
Understand Why People Snore
If you see your partner snoring, try to find the reason behind it. Several medical and lifestyle factors are linked to the habit of snoring, understanding which – is the first step towards helping someone stop snoring and ensuring healthy sleep.
Medical Factors:
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): Interrupted breathing during sleep caused by excess muscles and tissues blocking the airway is known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea. If the snorer chokes or gasps for air during sleep, it may indicate sleep apnea.
- Nasal Congestion or Blockage: If the nasal passage becomes narrow due to congestion, airflow is blocked, triggering snoring.
- Sinus Infection or Allergy: Allergies and inflamed sinuses also cause snoring.
- Nasal Polyps: Benign growths in the nasal passages obstruct airflow, resulting you in snoring while sleeping.
- Deviated Septum: A structural issue that leads to snoring.
- Central Sleep Apnea: A disorder when the brain falls short to send signals to the muscles to breathe properly, it is known as central sleep apnea.
- Sleep-Related Bruxism: A condition where you clench or grind your teeth grinding during sleep.
Lifestyle Factors:
- Obesity: Excess weight gain causes excess muscle growth around the head and neck, leading a person to snore.
- Pregnancy: Pregnancy weight gain and elevated hormones lead to snoring. If your partner’s pregnancy snoring is disturbing your sleep, read our guide on how to stop pregnancy related snoring.
- Drinking Alcohol: Alcohol intake increases the likelihood of snoring as it relaxes throat muscles.
- Smoking: Irritable airways due to excessive smoking might contribute to snoring.
- Sleeping on Your Back: Throat muscles relax and cause obstruction if you are lying on your back, hence promoting snoring. Sleeping on your side may prevent your partner from snoring.
- Taking Sedatives or Sleep-Inducing Medications: These can be a primary reason for relaxed throat muscles that cause someone to snore.
Strategies to Help Someone Stop Snoring Without Waking Them Up
While it’s natural to feel flustered as your partner’s snores don’t let you sleep, resorting to gentle methods to stop snoring avoids waking them up and is thoughtful behavior. Apart from encouraging them to make lifestyle adjustments such as weight management and quitting smoking and alcohol, you can try different methods to stop their snoring. The best way is to suggest a gentle shift in sleep position and encourage them to sleep on their side whenever you hear a loud snore.
You can also discreetly apply a nasal strip to help open their nasal passage and switch on a humidifier to reduce dryness in the air. You can try to gently elevate their head by supporting it with a few extra pillows as it reduces airway obstruction.
A great way to prevent your partner’s snoring is to look for good quality anti-snoring mouthpieces (MADs or TSDs) and make them wear it before they go to sleep. Mandibular Advancement Devices (MADs) push the jaw forward to eliminate snoring, while Tongue Stabilizing Devices (TSDs) pull the tongue forward to ease breathing.
The Lowdown on Anti-Snoring Gadgets
There are a plethora of anti snoring devices and gadgets available in the market, but choosing them is subject to the reason why someone snores. There are anti-snoring pillows, which encourage sleeping on your side so that the airways stay unobstructed. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machines are also used to alleviate sleep apnea, which is a major cause of snoring. These machines give a continuous stream of air pressure to keep the nasal passage open, causing the person not to snore.
Among all the other devices to combat snoring, anti-snoring mouthpieces take center stage. They are highly effective in reducing snoring. The MAD-type VitalSleep anti-snoring mouthpiece is our standout recommendation for snorers. In our in-depth analysis of Vitalsleep anti-snoring mouthpiece, you can read how its boil-and-bite custom-fit design works well to curb snoring.
The Magic of Sleeping Positions
Changing sleep position is effective in instantly reducing snoring. While sleeping on your back, the base of the tongue and soft palate fall to the back of the throat, causing snoring sounds. If your partner is lying on his/her back, encourage them to shift to a side sleeping position. This will prevent the throat muscles from obstructing the airway, promoting uninterrupted airflow and reducing the noise of snores.
Lifestyle Changes that Help Someone Avoid the Snores
There are specific lifestyle changes that can put a stop to the annoying habit of snoring. Firstly, maintaining a healthy body weight is key to reducing the excess growth that causes throat constriction and snoring. Balance your diet, avoid sugar and fatty food, and exercise regularly to shed extra pounds and manage a healthy weight.
You must encourage your snoring partner to quit alcohol and smoking, as both of these significantly contribute to snoring and impact your health. Avoiding any sedatives before bedtime can help with snoring, too. All of these lifestyle changes can eventually prevent snoring and ensure a good night’s sleep for you and your partner.
How to Cope With Someone Snoring?
While lifestyle changes and anti-snoring devices work with most cases of habitual snorers, additional coping strategies can help. You can try using earplugs or noise canceling headphones to block out the snoring sounds. Or you can use a white noise machine or a smartphone app that generates soothing sounds to mask the noise made by your partner.
Your partner can benefit from an adjustable bed, which slightly elevates the upper body, thereby reducing the snoring intensity.
However, keep in mind that most of these strategies just mask the snoring sound and do not resolve the issue of snoring itself. While the strategies could maintain a good night’s sleep, they won’t stop someone from snoring.
White Noise and Earplugs: Block Out Someone Snoring
For the tired, restless bedmate of the snorer, two effective solutions can help block out the snoring noise.
White Noise Machines:
White noise machines are very popular as they are known to create an auditory environment that masks snoring sounds and promotes relaxation. They produce steady, calming sounds, such as rainfall or ocean waves, successfully masking the snoring sounds and allowing you to sleep undisturbed.
Earplugs:
Earplugs are affordable, easy-to-use, and portable solution to block out your partner’s snoring noise. They fit inside the ear cavity, reducing extra noise. This makes them an ideal choice for anyone sharing a room with a person who snores. Earplugs are available in different materials including foam, silicone, and wax, and you can pick the most effective ones for your need.
Both white noise machines and earplugs provide reliable methods for dealing with snoring, ensuring a peaceful night’s sleep even in the presence of a snorer. Experiment with these options to find the one that suits your preferences and promotes uninterrupted rest.
The Separate Rooms Solution
When all else fails, and the noise of loud snores won’t stop disturbing your sleep, you can try sleeping in separate rooms. The remedy is effective in providing respite from the disruptive snoring so that you can rest uninterrupted at night.
Traditionally, giving up bed-sharing is looked down upon by couples. But if it is the only way that allows each partner to sleep undisturbed, it can help both of you to maintain your energy and focus during the day.
We strongly suggest having an open and honest conversation with your partner about this strategy, as it can potentially restore harmony in your relationship. Having their support and understanding will ensure the adjustment pays off and proves to be effective.
Final Tips for a Peaceful Night
Our guide to making someone not snore loudly hasn’t wrapped up yet. Here are some additional tips on how to stop snoring.
- Breathing Exercises: Encourage the snorer to practice specific breathing exercises or techniques to strengthen the throat muscles and prevent snoring. A study mentioned by Pubmed has shown that a combination of breathing exercises can potentially reduce the severity of snoring and sleep apnea.
- Nasal Strips and Nasal Dilators: These are available over-the-counter and can significantly help open nasal passages, allowing for better airflow and avoid you to snore.
- Anti-Snoring Pillows: These are specially designed pillows that encourage you to sleep on your side, thus keeping the airways open.
- Consult Your Healthcare Provider: If you are facing the issue of snoring along with other health concerns, such as apnea, consult an expert medical professional at a sleep clinic. The professional will assess the snoring problem with a sleep study, distinguish primary snoring from other underlying issues, and propose snoring treatments.
- Custom-Fit Mouthpieces: A well fitted mouthpiece works wonders to stop snoring, ensuring quality sleep. Explore our roundup of the best anti snoring mouthpieces to see which one suits you the best.
- Aromatherapy: Lavender or peppermint essential oils can promote relaxation and improve your sleep quality, reducing snoring to an extent.
- Manage Allergies: If you have any allergy that causes nasal congestion, managing it often cures snoring. Get your allergy addressed by a physician to prevent allergy-related snoring effectively.
Summing Up Ways to Stop Someone from Snoring
To sum up, there are multiple solutions to the snoring problem, and you, as a partner, can help your snoring bedmate get rid of it effectively. From lifestyle changes, including weight management and changing sleep positions, to using anti-snoring mouthpieces and nasal strips, you can explore effective methods to stop snoring.
However, it’s important to remember that the effectiveness of each method depends on the root cause of snoring in a person. Hence, it is important to identify the reason why your partner snores and pick a solution accordingly. Consultation with a health professional also helps identify the most suitable solution for snoring, ensuring you and your partner enjoy undisturbed sleep.
