Written by Updated: 08/08/2019
Contents
Overview
Snoring is when the respiratory structures vibrate and create uncomfortable sound during sleep. Researchers have pointed out that snoring is a signal of sleep deprivation or obstructive sleep apnea[1] [2]. Sometimes, the sound is small and soft. However, in most cases, the sound is too loud and makes the surrounding people feel uncomfortable. Nowadays, there are many home remedies and easy ways on how to prevent snoring naturally. Let's have a look at this post to know what they are and how to apply them in the correct ways.
11 Useful Ways On How To Prevent Snoring Naturally At Home
I. What Causes Snoring?
Snoring happens because of the combination of these following factors:
- Some people snore in a particular season when they are allergic or have the sinus infection. The changes in your nose can cause snoring because of the structural changes.
- The relaxed muscles in the throat and tongue can affect and collapse the breath. This is often caused by deep sleep, consumption of alcohol, or sleeping pills usage.
- Snoring sometimes is the result of having bulky throat tissue when you are overweight. Snoring can also happen in children when they have large tonsils and adenoids.
- If you have a long soft palate, you may suffer from snoring. A long soft palate can narrow the width from the nose to the throat. When the above parts vibrate, they can bump against the other and cause snoring.
- If you are overweight, you have a higher risk of snoring[3]. If you overeat and do not exercise regularly, the fat around your throat will increase. This makes the airways narrow and obstructs breathing during sleep. The patients, in this case, are often men rather than women since they weigh in their neck more than women.
- If you are from 45 to 64, you may have more serious snoring. Because in these ages, your throats are often narrower than usual. However, to make differences, you should have a better lifestyle, living regime, and even throat exercises.
- Alcohol, smoking, and medications can increase muscle relaxation[4] [5]. Medications are usually not useful for treating symptoms of snoring, though they can help manage a few of the underlying causes such as allergic reactions and nasal congestion. As presented above, it leads to a higher risk of snoring at night.
II. What Effects Of Snoring On Health?
The snorers can have high risks of serious health problems, including:
- Obstructive sleep apnea[6] [7]
- The obstruction of the airway can cause prolonged breathing interruption (often more than 10 seconds).
- Snoring can lead to constricted blood vessels in your lungs and even low oxygen levels in the blood. On the other hand, it leads to higher blood pressure and enlargement of your heart. Consequently, you may get a heart attack or stroke, chronic headaches, and even obesity.
- If you snore at night, you can suffer from fatigue or sleepy during the daytime and frequent waking during sleep.
III. How To Prevent Snoring
1. Change Your Sleep Position
One of the biggest reasons of snoring is that you sleep on your back. Therefore, changing your sleep position is one of the things you need to do first on how to prevent snoring. Because when you sleep on your side, your tongue and soft palate will touch the back wall of your throat and cause uncomfortable sound during sleep. If you find it hard to sleep on your side during the night, you can try to use a body pillow, which is as long as your body[8]. Orthopedic pillows can be the least intrusive choice for reducing snoring. You can also put a tennis ball on your back, and when you roll into your back, you will feel so hard. It will help you to prevent snoring naturally.
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2. Keep Your Body Fit
Overweight people have higher risks of snoring. If you snore when you become fat, but in the past, you did not, we can make sure that weight gaining is the reason. If your neck becomes fatter, it can squeeze the internal size of your throat, and it tends to be more collapsed when you are sleeping. According to research on the journal Lung India, “neck circumference of snorers was significantly more than the neck circumference of non-snorers in all BMI groups”[9]. From this study, we can see that the larger neck circumference you have a higher risk of snoring you get. Therefore, it is necessary to get your bodyweight back to normal to prevent snoring and getting healthier sleep.
3. Limit Or Even Keep Away From Alcohol
Alcohol can help relax your spirit and the throat and tongue muscles. And it, especially add adverse effects on how to prevent snoring. Drinking alcohol 4 or 5 hours before going to sleep can make snoring worse. And even the people who do not snore usually can also snore after drinking alcohol. Therefore, limit your consumption of alcohol or keep away from it to get rid of snoring and have a better sleep[10].
4. Have A Good Sleeping Habit
Poor sleeping habits such as when you are too tired or lack of sleep after a long working day may create snoring[11]. If you sleep hard and deep, the muscles can create snoring because they become floppier. So, it is necessary to pay attention to your living habits and have a suitable lifestyle.
5. Do Throat And Tongue Exercises
If you have a strong throat and tongue, you can effectively avoid snoring[12]. You put two molars together gently, open your mouth, and then press your molars wide apart but not to the point of overstretching. You should do this process 10 – 15 times so that you can feel the opening of the back of your mouth.
6. Stop Smoking
Smoking can cause snoring[13]. Therefore, stop smoking if you want better sleep. For some people, this tip is so hard, because they smoke as a habit and cannot give it up. If you are in this case, you can try some gum, patches, or even consult a doctor if necessary.
7. Consume More Vitamin C And E
Vitamin C is useful for your immune system[14] and can help on how to prevent snoring caused by throat infections. Another good vitamin for snoring is Vitamin E, which is not only good for your skin but also your heart[15]. As far as you know, cardiovascular disease and snoring have a close relation[16]. As a result, if you snore at night, you have a high potential of suffering from heart disease. Furthermore, the consumption of vitamins, especially from the daily diet, can help your body to be healthy and improve the quality of your sleep. And it, of course, means that you can get rid of snoring during the night without any medicine or doctor consulting.
IV. Natural Remedies
1. Essential Oils
In 2004, a research carried out at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital in the United Kingdom had pointed out that “snoring may be effectively treated with essential oils”[17] [18]. 140 people were chosen to take part in this research with both spray and gargling methods and showed many positive and encouraging results. And here are some ways on how to deal with snoring with essential oils:
Remedy 1: Room Spray Or Gargling
Spraying essential oils around the room is a wonderful way for you to enjoy your favorite smell. Please breath and let the essential oils work to keep away from snoring.
Furthermore, snoring can also be treated by carefully gargling with essential oils, especially before you go to bed. Peppermint is often recommended in this situation. However, when applying this method, you should make sure that you will not swallow any of the oils. Or else, it will be so dangerous.
Remedy 2: Anti-Snoring Essential Oil
Directions:
- Mix 1 drops of olive oil with 3 drops of lavender essential oil
- Add 3 drops thyme essential oil
- Mix the above mixture with 3 drops of essential oil of cedar
- Apply the above mixture to the bottom of your feet, especially your toes before bedtime
Remedy 3: Chest Massage Oil
Directions:
- Prepare 1 dark glass bottle
- Add 1 ounce of almond or jojoba oil, 2 drops of thyme, 5 drops of lavender, 2 drops of cedarwood essential oil, 5 drops of eucalyptus, and 5 drops of cinnamon bark
- Mix well all of these above ingredients
- Use the bottle with the above mixture inside to massage your chest before going to bed
- Combine with breathing deeply when you are massaging
Note: You can save this mixture in this bottle and remember that before each use, you have to shake them well.
Remedy 4: Eucalyptus And Geranium
For this remedy, you need to prepare these following things:
- Mist spray bottle
- 2 ounces of pure water
- 30 drops of geranium
- 30 drops of lavender essential oil
- 10 drops of basil
- 10 drops of eucalyptus
- 30 drops of marjoram
- 15 drops of cedarwood essential oil
Directions:
- Mix all of the above ingredients in the mist spray bottle.
- Before sleeping, spray this mixture around your room several times so that you can inhale the mist at home
- If you have serious snoring, you can spray this mixture one more time during the night.
- And, remember to shake this mixture before each time of using
Remedy 5: Grapefruit, Myrtle, And Spruce
Directions:
- Mix these following ingredients:
- 15 drops of grapefruit
- 35 drops of myrtle
- 45 drops of spruce
- 3 ounces of fresh water
- 15 drops of marjoram
- 25 drops of eucalyptus
- 25 drops of bay leaf
- Add the above mixture in a mist spray bottle
- Spray the above mixture around your room several times before sleeping
- If necessary, you can mist one more time during the night to fully help on how to prevent snoring at home.
2. Honey
Honey is rich in anti-inflammatory properties, which may reduce the obstruction of the airway in your throat[19] [20] [21]. The components of honey can also provide relief to obstructive sleep apnea and sleep deprivation. It can also help to reduce snoring by greasing your throat and release the vibration of the vocal cords.
Remedy 1:
Directions:
- Prepare a glass of warm water and add a teaspoon of honey to it
- Drink this before you go to bed
- Apply this method daily to have the best result
Remedy 2:
Directions:
- Prepare a cup of herbal tea
- Add several drops of honey
- Drink this tea after dinner
3. Sage Leaves
Sage leaves contain anti-hypertensive, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and antimicrobial agents, which work effectively in preventing snoring[22] [23]. It can reduce the inflammation and mucus congestion in your airways. As a result, it will help to prevent snoring naturally.
Remedy 1:
Directions:
- Add a handful of sage leaves to a pot of boiling water
- Add 1 – 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar to this pot
- Put a towel over your head and stream so that you can breathe with the air from the pot
Remedy 2:
Directions:
- Add a handful of sage leaves to the pot of hot water
- Wait for about 5 – 10 minutes for the sage leaves to steep
- Cool the water
- Rinse your mouth with the above mixture
- Follow this remedy every day and before your bedtime to get rid of uncomfortable sounds during sleep.
4. Ginger And Honey
Like sage leaves, ginger has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties so that it may soothe your throat[24] [25]. When being combined with honey, it will grease the throat tissues and open up the cavity of your nose. Ginger tea is usually considered the most effective remedy on how to prevent snoring at home.
Directions:
- Prepare 1 – 2-inch piece of fresh ginger root
- Then wash, peel, and cut them
- Put the cut ginger into a pan and add more than a cup of water
- Boil the above mixture in 3 or 4 minutes
- Let the mixture steep for about 5 minutes
- Add 1 – 2 teaspoons of honey to this mixture
- Mix them well
- Cool the tea and enjoy it
- For best results, you can drink 3 – 4 cups of this ginger tea per day.
Tips & Precautions
- When using essential oils, you have to make sure that you will not swallow or let them touch your eyes. If you have a painful condition, do a small patch test to ensure that you are not allergic to this essential oil.
- Consult a doctor to have the best advice before using essential oils to treat this disease.
- When you buy essential oils, you have to make sure that they are high-qualified products. The manufacturers and scientists enact no standard of these oils' quality. You have to be responsible for yourself when choosing a suitable type of essential oils.
- Buy products with 100% of essential oils and avoid the one without any notice of essential oil percentage.
- Remember to check the smell of the products before buying to ensure that the product you buy is in good condition.
- As snoring causes many harmful effects on our health, it is about time to treat it. The remedies mentioned above are not only nature and cheap but also very useful. If you apply this regularly, snoring will not a terrible problem so far.
Above are some useful tips on how to prevent snoring naturally at home that you can apply. If you have any comments or other ways, you can leave under this article.
