Learn How To Stop Snoring Without Surgery Blog

Who’s At Risk

According to the National Sleep Foundation, risk factors for sleep apnea include the following:

* Having a smaller upper airway, a large tongue, tonsils or uvula

* Being overweight or obese

* Having a small jaw or recessed chin

* Having a large overbite

* Having a large neck size (17 inches or greater in a man; 16 inches or greater in a woman)

* Smoking and alcohol use

* Being age 40 or older

* Ethnicity (African-Americans, Pacific-Islanders and Hispanics)

Snoring Help

Sometimes making lifestyle changes can help reduce or even stop snoring. Some of these changes include losing weight, limiting alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, changing sleeping positions and ridding your bedroom of allergens such as dust and pet hair.

“A lot of things people are doing in terms of habit can be modified and their snoring can eventually go away on its own,” Downey said.

A more extreme way to stop snoring is to have the soft palate, the tissue in the back of the mouth and throat including the uvula and tonsils, removed.

Downey does not recommend this surgery for anyone who has NOT first undergone a sleep study. A potential danger for someone who has sleep apnea but hasn’t been diagnosed yet is the surgery will make them have silent sleep apnea. The tissue no longer vibrates, but the problem is still there.

“If we just cover up the snoring,” Downey said, “sometimes we cover up the problem.”

(info by La Rue Novick from http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203~24505~2969459,00.html)