Causes of Snoring
The main cause of snoring while you sleep is that your airway isn’t wide enough. Your airway includes the nose, throat, and soft palate. When you lay down, gravity pulls your airway down as your muscles relax which makes your airway more narrow. As you breathe through the narrow airway, it creates a turbulent airflow that causes vibrations to occur. The vibrations come out as the sound you recognize as snoring. The loudest is caused by a narrow throat airway.
Possibly causes:
- Getting older
- Throat and nose conditions
- Sleep style
- Drinking alcohol or taking sedatives
- Excessive weight
- Sleep apnea
- Allergies
Dangers
You might not think that this is a big deal aside from being annoying, but there are many health dangers associated. Snoring usually goes hand in hand with a lack of oxygen during sleep. If you’re not getting enough oxygen as you sleep, you’ll likely wake up feeling sleepy throughout the day.
If sleep apnea is the cause of your snoring, it will increase your risk of developing serious health problems such as heart conditions like heart attacks and strokes.
Snoring may also result in household tensions, fighting with your significant other, or even divorce.
Effective Treatment
Before you should start exploring snoring treatments, Dr. Larry Pribyl will advise you to get tested for sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea, you must seek professional care for the sake of your health.
If you don’t have sleep apnea and just suffer from snoring, there are a few different treatment routes you can try. The first is modifying your lifestyle. This may include losing weight, sleeping on your side, not drinking alcohol or smoking, taking allergy medications, or exercising more. Lifestyle changes might work well with over the counter treatments like nose strips.
If lifestyle and over the counter snoring treatments don’t help improve your condition, Dr. Larry Pribyl can help. At the Center for TMJ and Sleep Apnea, we can provide you with a custom appliance. These appliances help support the soft structures of your jaw to keep your airway open while you sleep. We custom make them fit your specific anatomy. They’re comfortable to wear and highly effective.
We offer a wide range of appliances that relieve snoring symptoms. Dr. Pribyl can help determine what the ultimate cause is. If it’s related to your facial structure or anatomy, we offer oral appliances that help reshape the jaw to expand your airway.
Get Snoring Treatment in Lee’s Summit, MO
Are you tired of ineffective snoring treatments? Manage snoring with Dr. Larry Pribyl’s help. Center for TMJ and Sleep Apnea can provide you with effective snoring treatment at our dental office in Lee’s Summit, MO. Call us today to schedule a consultation at (816) 795-1000.
