Normally, the passage of air from the nose and mouth on one end and the lungs on the other, should be clear and free.
Now in snoring, partial obstruction of the air pathway occurs. As air passes, soft tissues at the back of the mouth and throat vibrate causing the noisy sounds call snoring.
There are four conditions that can cause snoring. The first is poor muscle tone in the tongue and throat aggravated by sedations from drugs and excessive alcohol.
The second reason is blocked nasal passages from a cold or an allergy. Obese or overweight people have bulky necks or large tonsils. They may also mechanically occlude the passage of air. Finally, a long uvula can flap as air passes.
In front of a mirror, look inside your mouth and say “Ahhhh”. The dangling reddish tissue at the back, above the tongue, is your uvula.
Chronic and severe snoring may lead to erratic sleeping patterns. Overtime the snore starts, his day tired and irritable because of interrupted sleep.
A drowsy worker delivers a sloppy work, gets into accident more easily, and can be socially undesirable, snoring may also point to other problems like nasal obstruction and obesity.
However, the most serious form of snoring is the condition called obstructive sleep apnea. In sleep apnea, the snoring person stops breathing for about ten seconds, this can occur up to seven times an hour.
Unfortunately, the end point of this abnormal sleeping condition in an overworked heart. In fact, some experts include sleep apnea as a precursor to hypertension and heart disease.
For light snores, some lifestyle adjustments may do the trick. These changes may mean losing weight, treating nasal congestion with no drowse formulae, avoiding sleeping pills and alcohol, sometimes changing position from sleeping on the back to the sides remove snoring.
For chronic and heavy snorers, a visit to the family medicine practitioner or the otolaryngologist (ENT expert) may the best thing to do.
Short of surgery, there is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). A CPAP device is worn like a gas mask during sleep. It eliminates snoring and make restful sleep possible.
The last option is surgery. There are many procedures to choose from like obstructive sleep apnea is treated with uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) or in short it is the face lift of the throat which is really what it is all about, tightening the flabby throat tissues so that the wide enough air passages can be restored.
