Snoring is a sign of restricted airflow.
What Causes Snoring?
When we lay down to sleep the muscles along our airway relax just as the rest of our body. For some people, however, these muscles relax too much, disrupting the airway. The muscles of tongue also become overly relaxed during sleep and is sucked back into the airway with every breath. This causes the airway to narrow. The impeded air intake causes the soft tissues of the throat to vibrate resulting in the sound we hear when a person snores.
At least 80 million Americans snore.
Snoring isn’t just a noisy nuisance. Persistent, loud snoring can disturb not only the sleep of the snorer, but anyone within hearing range. Disrupted sleep can result in symptoms of fatigue, drowsiness and an inappropriate desire to sleep during waking hours.
The prolonged effects of lack of sleep can lead to slowed responses, memory problems, difficulty paying attention and concentrating, and may also cause decreased performance in the work place. More importantly, lack of sleep can increase the risk of automobile accidents and can adversely affect relationships.
Surveys show that over 27% of couples resort to sleeping in separate rooms due to snoring.
Snoring Can Kill You.
Snoring, while not proof, is indicative of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In fact, Sleep apnea has snoring as one of its primary symptoms. Treating OSA will almost always stop snoring.
When snoring is so loud that it disturbs the sleep of others, Obstructive Sleep Apnea is likely the culprit.
What is osa?
Whereas snoring is a result of partial blocking of the upper airway, in OSA the airway is completely obstructed and the patient stops breathing. Although the patient may not recall waking up, the normal sleep cycle is disrupted, sometimes up to several hundred limes each night. OSA affects up to 24% of adult males and 9% of females. Some of the symptoms of OSA include headaches, poor concentration, daytime drowsiness and feeling tired up waking. Untreated, OSA can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, memory problems, job impairment, motor vehicle accidents. Over 100,000* people are killed or injured each year in crashes attributed to a driver who has fallen asleep at the wheel or who was inattentive due to severe drowsiness. We make sure all of our snoring patients are tested for OSA to keep them safe.
Treating Snoring will not only improve your quality of life, but also that of your loved ones.