Sound Sleep Guide

Archive for October, 2008

Snoring can cause a disruption to an otherwise sound night of rest to both the snorer as well as to his or her partner. Often, a person is unaware of his snoring problem and it is only when the matter is brought to his attention that he starts looking for solutions. No doubt, a person that snores will feel a certain sense of guilt about his habit and would thus welcome any tips to stop snoring.

You need not worry too much as there is plenty of information available on getting tips to stop snoring. The internet is a storehouse of information and all you need to do is search for ‘tips to stop snoring’ and you will find many possible solutions. There is sure to be much useful information that will start you on the road to having better sleep at night.

Pillows

Of course, how you use these tips to stop snoring will also determine their effectiveness as success will vary from individual to individual. Perhaps the simplest tip to stop snoring is to keep your head elevated while sleeping, and this can be achieved by sleeping with many pillows, or using thick pillows. You may also want to sleep on your side rather than on your back as this simple tip to stop snoring will prove it effective in preventing you from snoring.

Drugs

Another tip to stop snoring that is to your advantage, but it may not be to your liking is to reduce the amount of alcohol that you consume, especially before sleep time. In addition, you should also abstain from taking sleeping pills, tranquilizers as well as antihistamines immediately prior to turning in for the night. These preventive measures will help prevent your muscles from relaxing and thus not cause your air passage to be constrained.

Dairy

If these tips to stop snoring are not enough, you should try another tip which advises against your consuming dairy products immediately prior to going to bed as they are a source for building up of mucus, which will result in your snoring at night.

Since there are so many tips to stop snoring, it is no surprise how it has become such a big industry that caters to the millions of snorers in all parts of the world. There are anti-snoring pills as well as professionals who can be consulted to overcome this problem. Your best bet would be to experiment with the various pieces of advice that come your way and settle for the one that best suits your needs as well as puts an end to your snoring in an effective as well as economical manner.

If you or someone you know suffers from sleep apnea, its important for you to understand how it could affect your health. First you need to determine if your sleep apnea is a health risk to seek further treatment.

Sleep apnea is a serious disorder that collapses the airway of the sleep apnea sufferer. The condition is characterized by loud snoring and occurs most often in overweight males and other people whose necks are more than 17 inches in diameter.

Sleep Apnea and Sex

Sleep apnea can decrease your desire for sex and sexual arousal and cause less intense orgasms. After being treated for sleep apnea, patients have cited substantial improvements in their sex lives.

Daytime Drowsiness

Another way how sleep apnea impacts your health is that it causes you to be extremely sleep during the day – and no wonder. Sleep apnea sufferers’ sleep is constantly interrupted, 20 to 30 times every night. During an eight-hour sleep session, someone who suffers from sleep apnea may never sleep for more than ten minutes at a time.

Sleep Apnea And Increased Risk Of Car Accidents

In a Canadian study of 800 patients with sleep apnea, the patients were almost five times more likely than drivers without sleep apnea to have head-on car accidents and accidents involving injuries. Even patients with mild sleep apnea had the same increased risk as patients with severe sleep apnea. If this is how sleep apnea impacts your health, you should seek treatment right away.

Sleep Apnea And Increased Risk Of Diabetes

Sleep apnea can also add to your risk of diabetes. By having you airway collapse while sleeping, your breathing stops and the levels of oxygen in your blood drop.

Your bloodstream is hit with a surge of hormones as your brain tries to wake you. You awake and return to sleep and repeat this cycle until its time to start your day.

The surge of chemicals and hormones that have been added in your bloodstream create stress hormones. Scientists believe these hormones can affect your bodys cells that make insulin. Insulin is a hormone related to diabetes.

Snoring is a nuisance to your partner, but did you know that it can also be the result of many serious health problems? It is not uncommon to snore; however an estimated 59 per cent of adults snore three or more times per week!

Snoring can be treated in several ways, but some are more effective than others. Many times, a simple lifestyle change can help to reduce the severity and frequency of snoring. Other times, stop-snoring products can be used to accomplish this. However, if you have tried all of these methods with little or no success, then perhaps it is time to consider another alternative.

You might benefit from surgery to stop snoring. There are three main types of surgery to stop snoring: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), Radio-Frequency Ablation (Somnoplasty) and Palatal Stiffening (CAPSO).

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP)

The first type of surgery to stop snoring is Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP). The goal of this surgical procedure is to increase the width of the oropharynx. When UPPP is performed, the uvula and pharyngeal arches are removed, as are part of the soft palette and, on occasion, the tonsils. It is performed under a general anesthetic and is known for the potential to cause long-term complications, such as severe pain after operation, nasopharyngeal regurgitation, a partial loss of taste, permanent voice changes, and palatal dryness.

Short and Sweet: Somnoplasty or Radio-Frequency Ablation

Somnoplasty is another type of surgery to stop snoring, and it aims to shrink the redundant tissue of the soft palette and can be performed in a mere 20 minutes. During the procedure, the inner tissue is heated to 85 degrees Celsius, which could cause the tissue to scar. However, these scars have little or no effect on the surrounding tissues. Somnoplasty is performed under a general anesthesia, and it does not have as many complications as other procedures. However, it is still a relatively new procedure and many people have found its success rate to be lower than that of other procedures, especially in obese people.

Sweet Success: Palatal Stiffening

Palatal stiffening is the final type of surgery to stop snoring, and it can be accomplished in a minor outpatient procedure where the throat tissue is burned in order to stiffen it. This procedure has very similar results to Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), but it has far fewer complications. It is, however, still characterized by post-surgical pain. This surgery can be repeated more than once until the desire effect is obtained; thus, if you are unsatisfied with your original results, then you can have the surgery performed multiple more times.