If you have a snorer in your house, the chances are it’s caused more than a few harsh words. Often the snorer is oblivious and may get relegated to the couch and it ends up becoming a normal, and disruptive, part of life. But snoring shouldn’t be ignored as it can be a symptom of sleep apnoea, which if left untreated increases your risk of stroke, high blood pressure, developing depression and can lead to heart attacks.
The high-decibel sound is caused by vibrating tissues within the airways of the nose and throat and around 40 percent of men and 30 percent of women snore at least some nights, according to the Sleep Health Foundation.
Here’s how to quit the noise, for good.
Rethink your drinks
You’re not just imagining that the hog chorus sounds are worse after a boozy night. Alcohol’s sedative effect relaxes your throat and jaw muscles, which can collapse onto your airway and restrict airflow to cause snoring. It also has a knock-on effect of disrupting your normal sleep patterns, making you more tired the next day, a factor that’s linked to weight gain – another snoring trigger. Avoid alcohol in the hours before bed time and make sure you have a few booze-free days every week.
Take it seriously
Although we typically think snoring is a bloke’s problem, women snore too and just as loudly, even though we often underestimate it ,according to research in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. Amcal Pharmacy offer a complete Sleep Health Check with a highly trained pharmacist who can assess if you are at risk of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). If you are at risk, they can also recommend undergoing an overnight sleep study at home. Amcal provides the equipment for this – generally with shorter wait times than sleep studies through a GP or sleep lab.
Keep up your fitness
Not only do regular workouts help you sleep better, but keeping your BMI healthy and your weight in check reduces your risk of sleep apnoea. Being overweight or obese can make you carry excess weight around the neck which can increase the likelihood of the throat collapsing during sleep, causing snoring.
On the flip side, according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, obstructive sleep apnea—a common cause of snoring in which breathing periodically stops throughout the night, robbing your brain of oxygen—may also reduce your ability to kick it up a notch during a run, swim, bike ride, or cardio class.
Make over your bedroom
Have a look at the room you sleep in, it should be set up to give you the best night’s slumber possible. If you tend to work long hours and then wind down looking at social media before passing out in starfish position and doing it all over again the next day, your sleep habits could be having a similar effect as those glasses of pinot before bed. Use this checklist:
1. Make sure your bedroom isn’t too hot. Leave the windows slightly open at night or use a fan.
2. Use block-out blinds or a sleep mask to filter out as much light as possible, ideally you should not be able to see your own hand in the dark.
3. Charge your phone, tablet and any other electronics in a room other than your bedroom.
4. Read ‘offline’ before bed – a book or a magazine.
5. Make sleep a priority. Good sleep is linked to better skin, mood and energy.
6. If you have issues with insomnia or night waking, Amcal pharmacists can provide a Sleep Health Check and recommendations to get this fixed.
