You’re awake again. It’s 3:15 AM, and the person lying next to you sounds like a chainsaw struggling through a rusted pipe. Or maybe you're the one waking up with a mouth as dry as a desert, wondering why you feel like you've been hit by a truck despite "sleeping" for eight hours. It’s exhausting. Honestly, figuring out what to do against snoring isn't just about keeping the peace in the bedroom—it’s about making sure your heart doesn't give out prematurely.
Snoring is weirdly stigmatized as a "funny" trait or a sign of deep sleep. It’s neither. It is essentially a physical obstruction, a literal narrowing of the airway that causes tissues in the throat to flap around like a flag in a gale. People think it’s just noise. It isn't. It’s physics. When the air can't move smoothly, turbulence happens. That turbulence is the sound that’s currently ruining your marriage or your morning energy levels.
The Gravity Problem and Your Tongue
Most people start their journey of discovery by trying to sleep on their side. There’s a reason for this. When you lie on your back, gravity is your absolute worst enemy. Your tongue and the soft palate—that fleshy bit at the back of the roof of your mouth—basically collapse toward the back of your throat. If you've ever wondered why you sound like a freight train only when you’re flat on your back, that’s your answer.
Tennis balls. Seriously.
Old-school sleep doctors used to tell patients to sew a tennis ball into the back of their pajama top. It sounds ridiculous, but it’s a low-tech way to force your body to stay on its side. If you try to roll over, the discomfort wakes you up just enough to shift back. Nowadays, you can buy sophisticated "positional therapy" belts that vibrate when you hit the supine position, but the principle is the same. Stop sleeping on your back. It’s the easiest win in the book.
What to Do Against Snoring When Your Nose Is the Culprit
Sometimes the issue isn't your throat at all. It’s your nose. If you can’t get air in through the front door, your body tries to suck it in through the "delivery entrance" (your mouth) with twice the force. This creates a vacuum effect that collapses the soft tissues. This is why people with chronic allergies or a deviated septum are often world-class snorers.
💡 You might also like: Images of Grief and Loss: Why We Look When It Hurts
Think about the last time you had a massive cold. You probably snored. Now imagine living with that level of congestion every single night.
External nasal strips—those sticky Band-Aid looking things—work by physically pulling the nostrils open. They’re great for "nose snorers." However, if your blockage is deeper inside, like a nasal polyp or a severely bent septum (the wall between your nostrils), those strips won’t do a lick of good. You’d need to see an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) specialist for that. They might suggest a septoplasty, which sounds scary but is basically just straightening the "room divider" in your nose so air can actually flow.
The Alcohol and Sedative Trap
You had two glasses of red wine and now you’re waking the neighbors. Why? Alcohol is a potent muscle relaxant. It’s great for "winding down," but it’s terrible for the structural integrity of your airway. When those throat muscles get too relaxed, they lose their tone. They sag. They vibrate.
The same goes for sleeping pills. It’s a cruel irony that the things we take to help us sleep often make the quality of that sleep significantly worse by triggering heavy snoring or even sleep apnea episodes. If you’re serious about fixing this, the "no booze four hours before bed" rule isn't just a suggestion. It’s a requirement.
When the "Simple" Fixes Fail: Enter the Mouthpiece
If side-sleeping and skipping the nightcap don't work, you're likely looking at a Mandibular Advancement Device (MAD). These aren't your standard $5 sports mouthguards. They are engineered to pull your lower jaw slightly forward.
📖 Related: Why the Ginger and Lemon Shot Actually Works (And Why It Might Not)
By shifting the jaw, you’re creating more space at the back of the throat. It keeps the tongue from falling back. You can find "boil and bite" versions online, but the custom-fitted ones from a dentist are vastly superior. They’re more comfortable, and they don’t shift your teeth over time as much as the cheap ones do. Does it feel weird to sleep with a plastic tray in your mouth? Yeah, for the first week. But compared to the alternative—chronic fatigue and cardiovascular strain—it’s a tiny price to pay.
Myofunctional Therapy: Gym for Your Tongue
This is one of the "hidden" secrets in the sleep world. We exercise our biceps and our glutes, but we never think about exercising our tongues. Myofunctional therapy is essentially physical therapy for your mouth and throat.
Studies, including research published in the journal Chest, have shown that specific tongue exercises can reduce snoring frequency by 36% and total power by 59%. We’re talking about things like pushing the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and sliding it backward, or repeating vowel sounds rapidly. It sounds like something out of a vocal warm-up for a theater production, but it works. It builds muscle tone in the very area that’s currently collapsing and causing all that noise.
The Elephant in the Room: Sleep Apnea
We have to talk about Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Snoring is often just the opening act for a much scarier headliner.
If your snoring is punctuated by gasps, snorts, or long pauses where you aren't breathing at all, you aren't just snoring. You’re suffocating in your sleep. When your brain realizes it isn't getting oxygen, it sends a massive jolt of adrenaline to wake you up just enough to take a breath. This can happen hundreds of times a night. You won’t remember it, but your heart will.
👉 See also: How to Eat Chia Seeds Water: What Most People Get Wrong
- Symptoms of OSA: Morning headaches, excessive daytime sleepiness, irritability, and waking up with a racing heart.
- The Gold Standard: CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). It’s a machine that blows a constant stream of air into your throat to keep it open.
- The Diagnosis: You need a sleep study. Most are done at home now with a simple kit.
Don't ignore the "gasping." If you're gasping, you need a doctor, not a tennis ball.
Inflammation and Lifestyle Realities
Weight is a factor. Let’s not dance around it. If you carry extra weight around your neck, that’s literal pressure pushing down on your airway while you sleep. Losing even 10% of your body weight can sometimes "cure" snoring entirely because it reduces the fatty tissue in the neck and throat area.
But it’s also about what you eat. Inflammatory foods—think high sugar and processed dairy—can cause the tissues in your throat and nasal passages to swell slightly. If your airway is already narrow, that tiny bit of swelling is enough to tip you over into Snoretown. Some people find that cutting out dairy in the evening reduces the "mucus" factor that contributes to that rattling sound.
Hydration Matters More Than You Think
Dehydration makes the secretions in your nose and soft palate stickier. When things are sticky, they create more resistance. More resistance equals more noise. Drink water. It’s the simplest, cheapest thing you can do against snoring, and yet almost everyone is walking around perpetually parched.
Actionable Steps for Tonight
Stop looking for a "magic pill" because it doesn’t exist. Start with a process of elimination.
- Clear the Nose: Use a saline rinse or a Neti pot an hour before bed. Get the gunk out.
- Elevation: Prop the head of your bed up by 4 inches. Not just pillows—use actual bed risers. This uses gravity in your favor.
- The Humidifier: If the air in your room is bone-dry, your throat will dry out and vibrate more easily. Aim for 40-50% humidity.
- Record Yourself: Use an app like SnoreLab. It’ll tell you if your interventions are actually working. Seeing a graph of your "Snore Score" dropping is incredibly motivating.
If you’ve tried the side-sleeping, the nasal strips, and the weight loss, and you’re still keeping the household awake, it’s time to see a professional. Snoring is a physical signal that something is wrong with your breathing. Treat it like a "Check Engine" light for your body. You wouldn't ignore that on your car; don't ignore it on your health.