Snoring is due to the soft tissue in the upper airway relaxing. Your tongue may fall backwards, and when you breath out the vibration created by the soft tissue causes the typical buzz sound. When the airway narrows completely this is due to an apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious sleep disorder that causes you to stop breathing during the night. During your sleep the airway is continually blocked, limiting the amount of air that reaches your lungs. Apneas are often followed by loud snores and choking noises as you attempt to breathe. This also leads to disturbed sleep, with fatigue being a common symptom of sleep apnea.

Not everyone who snores will present with sleep apnea. Some people may just be eating too late in the evening and drinking alcohol. A few drinks with dinner can exacerbate snoring. Extra weight in the neck area also contributes to snoring. Pregnancy in later stages can also bring about snoring. Some people only snore or have more severe snoring while on their back. This position enables the tongue to more easily fall back. A body pillow can be placed in order to prevent rolling on your back.

If your snoring is due to sleep apnea, a CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) machine will enable the airway to remain open, preventing apneas and snoring from occurring. CPAP still remains the gold standard of treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. Apneas also leads to sleep fragmentation that effects whether you feel your sleep was restorative or not. A sleep specialist can best determine after a polysomnography (sleep test) what treatment is best for you.

Snoring is often only witnessed by our bed partners. We don’t always know that we snore. This common nightly scenario can often be replayed in most homes. Sierra DeMulder’s, “Heart Apnea” poem from the collection, “The Bones Below,” has a different perspective on this nightly ritual.

“When he sleeps,
the snoring does not bother me:
the rhythmic growl, gravel shoved
across the sidewalk of his throat.
It is the grasping, desperate way
in which he takes in air—his gulping lungs
as if every dream is filled with water
and he is trying to inflate
the life jacket under his skin.

I babble in my sleep. He believes
I am trying to tell him how my heart works,
says he will translate the manual one day.
I want to ask him: am I the ocean?
Are you drowning in everything
I don’t say when I’m awake?”

We are lucky when our bed partners choose to see the beauty, struggle and understanding needed when sleeping with those that may have sleep disorders.

Check out, “COMMON CAUSES FOR SNORING AND 11 EASY REMEDIES FOR ITS PREVENTION,” by Pillows Australia, for more info on snoring.