1. Losing Weight Can Help
It’s absolutely incredible what a little bit of exercise and dieting will do for your sleep! Exercising is the best way to eliminate stress, and when your mind is at ease, a deep refreshing sleep becomes effortless. It is much harder to fall asleep when you are feeling stressed and anxiety. So we recommend 20 minutes of exercising a day to minimize stress levels.
Furthermore, it has been proven that when you gain weight, the internal diameter of your throat becomes compressed, thus increasing your chances of snoring louder, and keeping your partner and yourself from having the sleep your body needs. Limit yourself from eating foods with high levels of sodium, sugar, and avoid fried or processed foods.
2. Nightcaps May Increase Snoring
I’m sure you have heard of the old tradition, “A nightcap before bed will surely help”. However, this is not a good idea at all, because your body will build up a tolerance for alcohol and you will need to drink more and more to feel its effect. Furthermore, alcohol can actually fragment your sleep and it will become harder for you to sleep all through the night.
Also, alcohol can also damage some of the muscles in your throat and increase your chances of snoring. At this point, it seems the nightcap tradition may be a thing of the past and if you want to find a solution to better sleep and less snoring, alcohol is not the way to go!
3. Don’t Smoke Before Bedtime
No matter how much you think that one cigarette will help you relax before bedtime, if you truly care about finding a snoring remedy, you must eliminate that habit. Smoking can irritate your throat, cause inflammation, and even congest the airway in your throat and nasal passage. Smoking before bedtime can actually increase your chances of snoring substantially.
Studies show, that snoring occurred more commonly (25% more) by smokers than non-smokers. Don’t increase your chances of snoring by smoking. This may in fact, be motivation to kick the habit all together.
4. Congestion
Congestion is one of the leading causes of snoring. Congestion can occur from some of those common “Sleep Methods” such as, having a cold fan or air conditioner in front of your face as you sleep, or by simply having dust mites in your bed sheets or pillows. You may want to re-think some of those common sleep methods because they may cause congestion and clog up your air passages and increasing your chances of snoring.
Make sure you clean your pillow covers and sheets as much as possible because killing dust mites will definitely help prevent congestion as you sleep at night. You may want to consider purchasing a humidifier as well, because it will help you breathe better at night, thus reducing your chances of snoring.
5. Try Household Remedies
You may not know this, but there may be a cure for your snoring habit sitting right in your refrigerator or cupboard. A cup of hot tea with a squeeze of lemon may do the trick. Honey has also been known to help with snoring. Simply eat a teaspoon of honey, or if you are avoiding sugar, a teaspoon of olive oil will suffice. The key to finding the best remedy for you is – research, research, and more research!
There are thousands of websites created by people like yourself, that are trying to find low cost cures that are simple and practical. Surf the web, and I’m sure you will find dozens and dozens of snoring remedies that you can make right at home.
6. Sleeping Positions
The simplest way to cure snoring is to simply analyze and reevaluate how your body is positioned when you sleep each night. Lying on your back at night can increase snoring, due to the fact that your tongue may collapse to the back upper wall of your throat; ultimately causing you to snore. If you share your bed with someone ask them if your snoring decreases when you change your sleeping position. No better way to find out than hearing it from your partner, other than filming yourself at night.
So try sleeping on your side and see if that does the trick. Also, you may want to consider a leg pillow or a body pillow when you sleep on your side, because it will not only help your posture, but it will align your back and it is actually really comfortable too. Sleeping on your side is a proven method to drastically help eliminate snoring, and we hope it works for you too!
7. Choose The Correct Pillow
This day in age, there are hundreds of new pillows out there specially designed to support your neck, properly align your spine, and yes - even prevent snoring! Similar to the sleeping position advice mentioned above, finding the right pillow that’s best for you can help open your air passages and significantly reduce snoring. Whether you sleep on your side, stomach, or back be sure you have the correct pillow that fits your sleeping position!
Again, this will require you to do your diligent amount of research because there are many pillows out there on the market. It may be a bit time consuming, but if you are serious about getting rid of that dreaded snoring problem, you’ll be glad you did. You may even be a lot more comfy at night, so it’s a win-win situation.
8. Practice Better Sleep Habits
Discipline yourself. It sounds easy enough, but this may be the toughest snoring solution of them all. We all form habits, and breaking them is an extremely difficult and it requires a ton of self-discipline. Staying up till 3 or 4 in the morning after a long night out on the town will definitely cause you to be absolutely exhausted. Typically, when you’re exhausted you tend to snore a lot more than you normally would if you went to sleep at a reasonable time.
If you work graveyard shifts make sure you take a nap before work and try to sleep as soon as your shift ends. Again, that is easier said than done because “life” may prevent that, but if your poor sleeping habits are preventable, than try your best to break those habits because it will surely help prevent snoring!
9. Anti-Snoring Mouthguard
There are many anti-snoring products on the market: Nasal strips, chin straps, breathing machines, and anti-snoring mouthguards. Always check with your physician when choosing an anti-snoring device but it should be noted that some of the products do not require a prescription or a Doctor’s approval.
One of the safest and most effective snoring solutions is an anti-snoring mouthguard. There are dozens of mouthguards on the market and many simply do not work or they are way too expensive. We recommend the Snore Free Mouthguard
They provide the most comfortable mouthguard at the best price by far.
10. Stay Hydrated
Drink plenty of water, juice, and any other liquid with relatively low levels of sugar. When you are dehydrated it makes it much more likely that you will snore. According to the Institute of Medicine, “Secretions in your nose and soft palate become stickier when you're dehydrated, and this can create more snoring.”
Be sure you stay hydrated every day and especially before you go to bed. This will not only help you get a better nights’ rest, but it will help prevent snoring and keep you and your loved one happy campers.