Sleep apnea most serious cause of snoring
A lot of people say that their spouse had to move out to sleep on another couch because the snoring is so bad. It the problem is not of simple snoring but of sleep apnea, correcting that would make a major difference to your life.
Do you know of any miracle technology that can solve the ancient problem of snoring? I love my husband dearly, but losing sleep night after night causes me to become irritable and tense. Moving him only stops the snoring for a few minutes and if I wake him, he becomes angry because I disturbed his sleep!
This was a concern expressed by a wife who loves both her husband and her sleep. She needs both of them. Let’s try to give her a solution.
When a person sleeps, and muscles relax, the passage of air through the mouth and respiratory system can cause the soft palate to vibrate and produce those atrocious sounds. It may be embarrassing, but there are no pills to take, and the solutions depend on some research into the cause of the problem.
If your husband is a bit overweight, into his later years, smokes, drinks or takes sleeping pills, he fits into the common pattern of snorers.
If this is the case, the solution may merely be losing weight, avoiding alcohol before bedtime, discontinuing the sleeping pills, and, of course, throwing away the cigarettes.
Try to make him sleep on his side, so that gravity can not affect the position of his tongue and pull on the muscles of the palate. Sew something to the back of his pajamas; tennis balls seem to be remarkably effective in getting people to remain off their backs during sleep.
Of course, your husband may suffer from sleep apnea, a condition that causes people to stop breathing during sleep, then awaken with a grunt and snort as they catch their breath. This is a far more serious cause of snoring, because it may lead to high blood pressure, abnormalities of heart rhythm, and even sudden death. Listen carefully to his snoring. If it stops for long periods, 20 to 25 seconds, and starts up again with a snort, sleep apnea may be the problem.
Although surgery was once the only treatment, new devices that fit over the nose and force air through the passages may now relieve your husband, the family and yourself from his regular, and disturbing, nightly serenades.