Snoring can affect every part of your personal health. If you have any snoring issues, it is important to consult a doctor or other healthcare professional, as it can be a sign of underlying health issues and affect those around you.
But how big of a problem is it? Consider these statistics.
Snoring Statistics
As many as 30% of people aged thirty and older snore regularly, and the older they get, the more it increases, with 40% middle aged people snoring. Two thirds of all partnered adults say that their partner snores. The approximate ratio of snoring between men and women stands at 2:1 but changes after women begin to enter menopause.
An estimated 28% of snorers also suffer from the previous mentioned sleep apnea, which is a chronic issue that can be very serious. If untreated, sleep apnea “will lead to daytime dysfunction and puts you at a higher risk for vascular disease.”
Snoring Treatments
Some possible fixes for snoring include changing your sleeping position from your back to your side, to keeping your throat clear, or to losing weight.
“If you gain weight around your neck, it squeezes the internal diameter of the throat, making it more likely to collapse during sleep, triggering snoring,” says Doctor Daniel P. Slaughter, and even could be as simple as changing your pillows or dusting your room to remove allergens.
If you have been diagnosed as having sleep apnea, you will probably be given a CPAP mask to keep your airways open as you sleep and prescribed a sleeping aid like trazodone.
What Exactly is Snoring?
Snoring is best described by the Sleep Foundation: “While you sleep, the muscles of your throat relax, your tongue falls backward, and your throat becomes narrow and floppy.”
As you breathe, the walls of the throat begin to vibrate – generally when you breathe in, but also, to a lesser extent, when you breathe out. These vibrations lead to the characteristic sound of snoring.
The narrower your airway becomes, the greater the vibration and the louder your snoring. Sometimes the walls of the throat collapse completely so that it is completely occluded, creating a condition called apnea (cessation of breathing). This is a serious condition which requires medical attention.”
Is Snoring Affecting Your Sleep Pattern?
Both snoring and sleep apnea are common conditions that can have a profound effect on the lives of those who have them, and the lives of the people they live with. At Houston Sinus & Allergy, we have helped hundreds of people to stop snoring and fix their sleep apnea, and get the sleep they need, and we can help you too.
If you suffer from debilitating snoring or think you may have sleep apnea, contact us or fill out our assessment form at the right.
