How to Stop Snoring and Get a Good Night’s Sleep
These ways to stop snoring are from sleep doctor Steven Y. Park, MD – and they’ll help your partner get a good night’s sleep, too! Dr Park discusses snoring, sleep apnea, sleep aids, and dental devices…
Before the tips, a tip:
“If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying,” says motivational guru and author Dale Carnegie. “It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.”
And here’s another tip for sleeping: don’t watch the clock if you can’t sleep! You’ll feel aggravated and frustrated, which does not lead to a good night’s sleep. Click on Dr Steven Y. Park’s book Sleep, Interrupted for more info, and read on for his tips on sleeping better…
How to Stop Snoring and Get a Good Night’s Sleep
If you snore, skip all the throat sprays, pillows, nose strips and vitamins. Sleep aids only work sometimes, in some people — if they don’t work for you, consider learning how acupuncture stops snoring.
Try a ”boil-and-bite” anti-snoring dental device that is sold over the internet and more recently advertised on TV. These devices help you sleep better by molding to your upper and lower teeth and pulling your lower jaw and the back of your tongue forward. Your breathing passageways are opened, allowing you to breathe better, which will help you sleep.
A drawback to these dental devices is that they don’t mold to your teeth very well and can’t pull your jaw forward enough to make a huge difference. But these dental devices do help some people sleep better. They don’t, however, treat any underlying obstructive sleep apnea. You may be just covering up your snoring, but not taking care of your underlying sleep apnea. Untreated obstructive sleep apnea can lead to depression, anxiety, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, heart attack, or stroke. To sleep better and snore less, consider a dental device made by a dentist.
Singing also has been promoted to help snoring and sleep apnea. There are various singing and tongue exercise programs that may help you sleep better and snore less. Singing may improve throat muscle control, and exercise your tongue muscles. Another sleep tip: some studies that report using the Aboriginee musical instrument, the didgeridoo, can help people stop snoring and get a good night’s sleep.
Breathe-Rite strips (nasal dilator strips) aren’t always strong enough to keep your nostrils open. Sometimes you need something stronger. There are various internal nasal clips that widen your nostrils while you sleep. Opening up your nose is found to help sleep apnea significantly only in about 10% of people. But when it works, you’ll know – because you’ll sleep better. And remember that the reason you snore affects how you’ll stop snoring.
If you must sleep on your back (even though you like to sleep on your side or stomach), use a contour sleep pillow, which puts the back of your head lower than the area behind your neck. By tilting your head back somewhat, it opens up your airway significantly. Another sleep help tip is to use an Asian husk-filled roll-type pillow to sleep better and perhaps snore less. Click on the image for more info about contour sleep pillows.
Stay away from prescription sleeping pills. Non-drug company funded studies have shown that these pills only increase sleep duration by about 10 minutes on average. Even if it works, the effect wears off if used long-term. For many sleeping pills – even the newer ones – the side effects can outweigh any potential benefit. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for insomnia has been proven to help you sleep better. If allergies are disrupting your sleep, read 10 Natural Allergy Treatment Tips.
If you have any questions or thoughts on these ways to stop snoring, please comment below! For ways to get a good night’s sleep, read Sleep Tips From Specialists.
Steven Y. Park, M.D., is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at the New York Medical College.
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Comment by Laurie PK on 27 March 2009:
Insomnia and poor sleep disrupts your hunger and fat storage hormones (ghrelin and leptin), which leads to weight gain. Sleep loss actually increases ghrelin and decreases leptin, which stimulates your appetite.
Your energy balance is disrupted when you’re not getting proper sleep, which is why good sleep tips are so important! (plus, not sleeping just makes you cranky and irritable, which is no fun for anyone)
Here’s the link to the current sleep research info on ScienceDaily: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090325132151.htm . Interesting stuff!