Snoring: Prevention

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Prevention

To help prevent snoring, you can:

• Avoid the use of alcohol and medicines that slow your breathing, such as sleeping pills and tranquilizers.
• Eat sensibly, exercise, and stay at a healthy weight.
• Go to bed at the same time every night and get plenty of sleep. Regular sleep patterns help you sleep better, and more restful sleep may reduce snoring.
• Sleep on your side, not on your back. Sleeping on your back can increase snoring. Try sewing a pocket in the middle of the back of your pajama top, putting a tennis ball into the pocket, and stitching it closed. This will help keep you from sleeping on your back.
• Quit smoking. This reduces inflammation and swelling in the airway, which may contribute to the narrowing of the airway.
• Raise the head of your bed to by putting bricks under the legs of the bed. (Using pillows to raise your head and upper body will not work.) Sleeping at a slight incline can prevent the tongue from falling toward the back of the throat and contributing to a blocked or narrowed airway.
• Promptly treat breathing problems, such as a stuffy nose caused by a cold or allergies. Breathing problems can raise the risk of snoring.

Last updated:	January 30, 2008
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Jan Ulfberg, MD, PhD - Sleep Disorders
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman, MATC