You wake a little groggy and not all that well rested, and you hear from other family members that they have the same complaints. The problem is your snoring, robbing you and anyone within earshot of restorative sleep.
You can point out to your grumbling family that 45% of adults snore occasionally and 25% regularly, so you’re in good company. Before you run out and buy earplugs for everyone, a better idea is to get to the bottom of your snoring, which can help you sleep better.
To that end, Dr. Timothy Queen and our Advanced ENT & Allergy team, who specialize in sleep disorders, offer an overview of some common culprits behind snoring and how we can help you and everyone else in your family sleep more soundly.
A leading driver of snoring is a sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which affects about 39 million American adults. With OSA, soft tissues at the back of your throat collapse while you sleep and block your airways.
When this happens, your brain rouses just enough to clear your airways again. And this can happen many times throughout the night, sometimes dozens of times each hour.
As you might imagine, snoring and lack of sleep are two of the primary side effects of OSA. The good news is that there are solutions for OSA, including CPAP machines that keep your airways open and oral appliances that you place in your mouth to help you breathe while you sleep.
If your snoring tends to flare during certain seasons — spring and fall, mostly — the odds are that it’s related to seasonal rhinitis, affecting 81 million people in the United States. Congestion is a common side effect of hay fever, which can lead to snoring.
If your snoring is seasonal, it’s a good idea to see us for allergy testing so that we can confirm seasonal rhinitis and equip you with the tools you need to combat daytime and nighttime symptoms of seasonal allergies.
The anatomy of your nose can also lead to snoring. For example, a deviated septum, which can create asymmetrical nostrils, is a common cause of snoring.
In kids, overly large tonsils or adenoids are often responsible for childhood snoring.
If there’s an anatomical issue that’s causing chronic snoring issues, we offer tonsil and adenoid surgeries, as well as nasal procedures, and each helps you (or your child) breathe easily and less noisily.
Rest assured, whatever is behind your snoring, we’ll get to the bottom of the issue and find an appropriate solution that will have the entire household getting more restful sleep in no time.
For skilled evaluation and treatment of your snoring, please contact our office in Newport News, Virginia, to schedule an appointment today.
