Sleep Disorders Forum - Snoring Girlfriend

OK, a couple of things... First - get tested for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). It's a potentially fatal sleep disorder and only a sleep specialist can determine if your girlfriend has it. My brother is an ENT doctor who has a specialty practice in sleep disorders. My wife is an RN who works in a sleep clinic. What I know about snoring is because she snores, and what my brother tells me. Second - your mileage is going to vary a lot about using non-surgical snoring aids. Some people love the nose strips, sprays or mouthguards. For way too many others, including us, these don't work that well. Surgery does work for some people, not so much for others.

Third - is your girlfriend overweight (are you)? That is often a causative factor in the development of chronic snoring or even obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). But so is age and the general state of health. You also tend to snore more and more loudly the older you get; and your health, particularly respiratory/nasal/sinus condition is also a major factor. If you have allergies, smoke, live or work in a polluted city, etc... these can also contribute to poor respiratory health.

One thing that you really need to check on any health web site is does it have the HON certification (www.hon.ch). This is the international foundation that evaluates and certifies web sites that have reliable health information. If it isn't HON-certified, I'd be pretty cautious about what's on the site.

With regard to OSA - a very recent announcement was made about an 18 year Univ of Wisconsin sleep apnea study. While the study does confirm that sleep apnea really is a serious and potentially fatal respiratory disorder (if you snore loud and every night, get tested!), what was not noticed by news reports is the study's finding that 72% of the study participants (age 30-60) did not have sleep apnea, even though many of them were snorers. 24% had a mild version and only 4% had moderate to severe OSA. Basically, this suggests that most snorers probably don't have sleep apnea, or at least not a moderate to severe case. They just snore.

I don't want you to think that I'm minimizing the potentially fatal consequences and seriousness of OSA, or the critical need to get tested if you snore or have symptoms of sleep apnea such as daytime sleepiness, interrupted breathing while asleep or other symptoms. But, like with so many other medical conditions, my brother and my wife think that some over-diagnosis occurs from time to time.

What we learned from my brother and wife, the FDA web site, WebMD, Mayo and others is that most non-OSA snoring in adults is due to breathing through the mouth while asleep, and this may be because the snorer can't breathe that well through the nose.

If you can't breathe easily through your nose, you're going to have to breathe through your mouth, and you will probably snore. So, if that's the case, try to improve your nasal & sinus health. It is true that palate and soft tissue vibration in the throat "causes" snoring, but if the mouth is closed, and you breathe through your nose, there is a lot less throat vibration and less snoring.

We have done the sleep tests a couple of times over the past 5 years because it's free for her, she's tried most everything OTC or advertised on TV, on the web, and in magazines. She did get some relief (I did really!) from a couple of things - she lost some weight, uses a nasal irrigator a couple times a week (neti pot), and no caffeine or alcohol after about 6PM. Also, she has the chin strap that another post above mentioned because she does sleep with her mouth open and it really stopped most of the snoring right away, especially when she uses the neti pot a couple times a week. If your husband or wife snores, maybe some of these ideas can help like they have for us.

Some people snore less once they have their tonsils removed. Of course, some people snore through their noses (nasal snoring). That's tougher to control. My brother and most of the ENT specialists that my wife works with do recommend using some kind of nasal irrigation regularly (a couple times a week, not necessarily every night) to help improve nasal breathing and clear the sinuses. One of them told her about the chin strap and the doctor has one himself. My brother sometimes uses it in his practice for patients who don't want or can't have surgery (cardiac problems, for example).

If your snorer doesn't have the symptoms of sleep apnea (just go to the sleepapnea.org web site for more information), then my advice is tonight wait until she starts snoring and see if it's because her mouth is open. That may not be the root cause of her snoring - she may have nasal blockages or something like that. But if, like my wife, she snores because her mouth is open, then you can try chin tape (she did, it irritated her skin something terrible), maybe a mouthpiece (she couldn't stand the excess saliva it caused and it gave her bad TMJ pain), or go find a chin strap to keep her mouth closed so you can get some sleep. Maybe this will be helpful to somebody. I know from first-hand experience and from what my brother the ENT says how hard loud snoring is on relationships, health, marriage and family.