Are You Keeping Your Partner Awake? Four Steps To Combat Snoring To Save Your Relationship!

There are many types of snoring ranging from tongue snorers, mouth snorers and nasal snorers, all of which are attributed in some way to the narrowing of your throat or airways which causes the vibrations of your uvula against your mouth to make a loud noise known as snoring when you breathe. However whichever kind of snoring you have this will still impact on your partner’s ability to sleep. Fortunately, there are four general steps you can take that will reduce how much you snore:

A recent survey carried out by Brookman Solicitors sampled more than one thousand married people and found that respondents identified a snoring partner as one of the most annoying habits they had to put up with from their significant other.

Of course, this is one of the few ‘habits’ that a person has little control over, and there are many factors that can cause or trigger snoring. Often a snorer’s partner will experience diminished quality of sleep, or sleep deprivation, and snoring can become a considerable bone of contention for cohabiting couples. But there is light at the end of the tunnel: there are measures that can be taken to help manage snoring and alleviate its effects. Here are four things you can do to help save your relationship from the impacts snoring.

1. Avoid Alcohol Before Sleeping

Alcohol is a depressant, so while it can certainly help to induce deep sleep, it has a relaxing effect on the brain which can aggravate snoring. Relaxed muscles in the back of your throat are a common cause of snoring, and alcohol consumption can magnify this effect, so it is best to avoid alcohol before going to sleep to prevent worsened snoring.

2. Adapt Your Sleeping Position

Many people do not realise just how relevant your sleeping position is to snoring. Consider the steps first aiders get you to follow to open a person’s airways – the positioning of your body can make a great difference to how easily you can breathe. Sleeping on your side is a good way to keep your airways open; sleeping on your back often causes your chin and neck to put pressure on your airways, resulting in snoring.

3. Research Into Snoring Prevention Products

Aids to manage snoring are now widely available at supermarkets and pharmacies, and quite affordably. Products ranging from throat sprays to nasal strips work in different ways to open and relax your airways and make breathing easier during sleep. But these are not a one-size-fits-all solution, as there are in fact different kinds of snoring, so it is advisable to consult with a pharmacist or GP, who can take your symptoms and recommend the best treatment for it.

4. Evaluate Your Current Lifestyle

As with many conditions, lifestyle changes can make a significant difference to the symptoms, and snoring is no different. On top of cutting down on alcohol and making sure that you don’t drink alcohol before sleep, maintaining a healthy body weight, eating healthily and engaging in regular exercise can help to reduce snoring. Smoking can aggravate snoring problems as it irritates the throat, so this is another good reason to try to quit smoking as soon as possible. Evaluate your current lifestyle and take steps to live a healthier everyday life and see how it reduces your snoring problems.

If you feel the effects of your partner’s snoring, there are also steps you can take to support them in making the changes they need to implement to manage their snoring. Take the opportunity to make healthy changes in your own life: take up an exercise routine together; make an effort to cut down on your alcohol consumption, and if you both smoke, support each other in cutting down and eventually quitting. Uniting to make the changes can really help your partner feel supported and motivated.