Snoring is caused by collapsible parts at the back of our mouth that relaxes when we sleep. Once in a relaxed state, the airflow will drive them to flip since they are dangling loose nearest to the throat. These structures will then strike each other as air passes, which then cause them to vibrate and create sounds.
Excess fleshy structure in the throat: This result in more tissues that collide – it is therefore more likely that snoring can occur. This explains why people snore when they have abnormal tonsils or adenoids. Overweight individuals, on the other hand, have larger necks that narrow the air passage while adding more obstructions due to the presence of excess tissues. Although rare, cysts and tumours can also directly cause snoring.
Some people have extra long uvula and soft palate. These muscles can dangle as a person breathes. These act as flutter valves that impede the normal air passage through the throat.
Obstruction in the nasal passage can also inhibit the movement of air from nose to lungs. If a person has a stuffy nose, he or she needs to breathe extra hard which then creates a vacuum in the throat. The parts that dangle loosely in this section of the respiratory tract are then subject to excessive movements. While a person doesn’t normally snore, the possibility that he (or she) would during hay fever season is high. Thus, many reports of snoring only occur when people have colds.
Problems with the nose construction: The nasal septum, the underlying bone of the nasal bridge that separates one nostril from the other, can also have deformities that may cause obstruction in the airflow.
Mouth breathing can also directly result to snores. Once the jaws drop during our sleep, a space will be created that would allow the tongue to fall back towards the throat. Again, this would create an obstruction that will encourage vibration, thus creating snores.
Having said all these, are there any cure?
Excess tissues in the throat: The best possible cure is to remove the tissues that cause the blockage. This can be done through surgeries or through losing weight.
There are many techniques used to surgically eliminate unwanted tissues. Some actually scrape these tissues while other allows electrically induced disintegration of such muscles, which will then be reabsorbed by the body. Surgery is also used when the main cause of snoring is deviated nasal septum. This choice of cure will of course require careful examination and decision.
Mouth breathing, on the other hand, is best cured by shifting to nasal breathing. Many exercises had been devised to achieve this. There are also a number of stop snoring devices that encourage the shift of breathing.
Nasal passage problems are a bit less complicated to resolve. There are various stop snoring aids that aim to maximize the size of the nostrils through the use of clips and straps to facilitate better breathing.
