eli5: Why do people snore?
In: Biology
Well, the answer is your tongue and throat loosen in deep sleep and it can partially block your airways. But. People mostly snore because they’re overweight. As in, there’s too much fat in the neck and chest which makes the passage narrower and causes snoring. If everyone was their ideal weight, most people wouldn’t snore / barely snore unless they had some sort of abnormality effecting their airway.
When you sleep the muscles in the roof of your mouth (soft palate), tongue and throat relax. For a number of people your anatomy (shape of your throat, sinuses, etc) can cause these tissues to partially block your airway.
When air passes by the tissues they flap and vibrate which causes the snoring noise.
The deeper you sleep, the more the tissues relax and the worse the snoring gets.
For a lot of people whether or not you snore depends on how you sleep. Your head position and whether or not you are lying on your back or side can cause the snoring. Simply changing position or forcing yourself to lay on your side can stop snoring.
Your body weight and size of your neck also has an effect. Losing weight can help a lot of people with snoring and breathing issues while they sleep.
People with allergies can also be affected as congestion can block the airway.
If these tissues completely block your airway while you sleep you have what’s called obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be a serious condition as it can lead to you essentially choking in your sleep. On the less severe side you won’t sleep properly as you frequently wake up during the night and can’t dream properly or enter deep sleep. On the more severe side it can cause respiratory issues, heart problems, and all sorts of knock on health conditions.
Treatments can include mouth guards to change your mouth and tongue position, different pillows and sleeping arrangements, losing weight, medications to help with allergies, and in some cases surgery to try to open up the airway or sinuses.
But one of the most effective treatments is to use a CPAP, a machine that forces air pressure into your nose and throat to keep your airway open.
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