Causes of Snoring

Why do you snore and how can you stop it?

Knowing the causes of snoring is an important information which can be very useful to effective treat your sleep problem.

If your car has broken, how can you expect to repair it if you don't know the cause of the multifunction?

If you just find out that you snore in your sleep, you are not alone.

Over 80% of adults had at least one symptom of a sleep problem, such as snoring or waking a lot during the night.


The Main Causes of Snoring

Everyone snores for different reasons. These possible reasons are:

Narrow airway

The mechanism which cause snoring is based on the physical forms of your airways. Why you sleep, the muscles of your throat relax, and your throat becomes narrower and floppy. This process is normal even for a healthy person.

However, if the airway narrows too much, airflow becomes turbulent. This airflow current makes the walls of the throat begin to vibrate when you breathe in or when you breathe out.

These vibrations represent the characteristic sound of snoring. In other words, the narrower your airway becomes, the greater the vibration and the louder the snoring.

This video will explain more clearly why do people snore:

Why do we snore?

If you want to know people's opinion about the product discussed in this video, you can find out more on Asonor page.


Overweight and Obesity

Being overweight is one of the most common causes of snoring, since excess fat in the neck area reduces the space of the air passage.

Many obese patients show crowded tissues inside the airway, but few doctors pay attention to these airway structures.


Hypotonia

Hypotonia or muscle weakness may appear due to aging, allowing the size of the throat to close together and the tongue to fall backward into the airway.


Abnormal anatomy of the airway

The abnormal anatomy of your airway can lead to snoring. If your nose suffered a trauma during an accident, and that wound still exists, your passageway of the nose may be narrower than normal, making it hard for the air to pass by.

In this video you can see a 3D view of an obstructed posterior nasal airway: 

3D view of obstructed posterior nasal airway


Other anatomical abnormalities may exist in your mouth and throat. For example, the tongue, the tonsils, uvula and adenoids may become enlarged and narrow the airway.

Another anatomical cause can be the soft palate, which is the muscular membrane between the nose and mouth that direct food and air during speaking or swallowing.

This muscular flap may become elongated, narrowing the opening from the nose into the throat.

Also, if you have a very small or narrow jaw, it also may contribute to snoring.

Here are the most common causes of snoring from anatomical point of view:

  • deviated septum
  • sinus blockage or polyps
  • traumatic injuries to head, face, or neck
  • nasal or oral surgeries


Alcohol and medicines

Certain drugs such as sedatives and muscle relaxants can cause the muscles of the throat to relax more than usual. When this happens, you are airway narrows causing snoring.

As you can see, many causes of snoring begin with airway anatomy. Some snorers know they have a problem with the airway, because they notice:

  • occasionally choking on food
  • accidentally biting their cheeks or the sides of the tongue
  • they breathe with difficulty while awake
  • they have problems swallowing the pills


Bottom line... You can find important clues about your breathing if you spend a couple of minutes looking at your face, nose and airway. Just stand in front of the mirror, and using the flashlight, begin to examine your airway anatomy.

Search for excessive soft palate tissue which may cover up the top of the airway opening.

When you examine the soft palate, take a closer look at uvula. If you have an elongated or red uvula, it proves that you snore or your breathing encounters powerful friction along these passages.

Perhaps you'd like seeing these pages:



› › Causes of Snoring
Share this page:
Enjoy this sleep apnea page? Please pay it forward. Here's how..

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.