Diagnosis and Management of Snoring

Identification

Your doctor will examine your medical history, along with your signs and symptoms, in order to diagnose your condition. A physical examination will also be conducted by your physician.

The Imaging

An imaging test, like an X-ray, CT scan, or magnetic resonance imaging, may be prescribed by your doctor. These examinations look for structural issues with your airway, like a deviated septum.

research on sleep

Your doctor might want to perform a sleep study, depending on how bad your snoring is and whether you have any other symptoms. Home sleep studies are occasionally performed.

But, based on your additional medical conditions and other sleep-related symptoms, you might have to spend the night at a sleep center in order to have a polysomnography—a study that analyzes your breathing in great detail while you sleep—performed.

During a polysomnography, you are monitored all night long while attached to numerous sensors. Throughout the sleep study, the following data is noted:

neural waves

blood oxygen saturation

heart rate

respiration rate

phases of sleep

Leg and eye movements

Medication

In order to address your snoring, your physician may initially suggest modifying your lifestyle, including:

Getting in shape

Staying away from alcohol before bed

Taking care of nasal congestion

Preventing sleep loss

Steer clear of sleeping on your back.

If you have OSA and snore, your doctor might recommend:

appliances for the mouth. Form-fitting dental mouthpieces called oral appliances assist in moving your jaw, tongue, and soft palate forward to maintain an open airway.

If you decide to use an oral appliance, you will fit and position it as best you can with the help of your dental specialist. In order to ensure that the oral appliance is performing as intended, you will also collaborate with your sleep specialist. To have the fit checked and to have your oral health evaluated, you may need to see a dentist at least once every six months for the first year, and then at least once a year after that.

Wearing these devices may cause side effects such as dry mouth, excessive salivation, jaw pain, and facial discomfort.

Positive airway pressure that is constant (CPAP). Using this method, you sleep with a mask covering your mouth or nose. During sleep, the mask maintains your airway open by directing pressurized air from a small bedside pump towards it.

The most common use of CPAP (SEE-pap) is to treat snoring that is linked to OSA since it stops the snoring.

While CPAP is the most dependable and successful way to treat OSA, some people find it uncomfortable or find it difficult to get used to the machine’s noise or feel.

upper respiratory surgery. Many procedures aim to prevent significant narrowing of the upper airway during sleep by using a variety of techniques.

For instance, during a procedure known as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), your surgeon will administer general anesthesia while tightening and excising extra tissue from your throat. This procedure is similar to a facelift for your throat. The upper and lower jaws are moved forward during a different procedure known as maxillomandibular advancement (MMA), which aids in opening the airway. A low-intensity radiofrequency signal is used in radiofrequency tissue ablation to reduce tissue in the tongue, soft palate, and nose.

A more recent surgical method known as hypoglossal nerve stimulation applies a stimulus to the nerve that governs the tongue’s forward motion so the tongue won’t obstruct the airway when you inhale.

Home cures and lifestyle

Try these suggestions to stop or reduce snoring:

Reduce your weight if you are overweight. Overweight people may have extra throat tissue, which makes them more prone to snoring. Shedding pounds can lessen snoring.

Turn over to sleep on your side. Your tongue can slide backward into your throat when you’re lying on your back, narrowing your airway and partially preventing airflow. Consider switching to a side sleep position. Try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pajama top if you frequently find yourself on your back in the middle of the night.

Elevate your bed’s head. It might help to raise the head of your bed by about 4 inches.

An external nasal dilator or nasal strips. Many people find that by applying adhesive strips to the nose bridge, they can expand their nasal passage and improve their breathing. A nasal dilator is an externally placed, stiffened adhesive strip across the nostrils that may help reduce airflow resistance and facilitate easier breathing. However, nasal strips and external nasal dilators are ineffective for individuals with OSA.

Address any obstruction or congestion in the nose. A deviated septum or allergies can restrict the amount of air that enters your nose. This makes you breathe through your mouth, which makes snoring more likely.

If you suffer from persistent congestion, ask your doctor about a prescription steroid spray. You might require surgery to fix a structural flaw in your airway, like a deviated septum.

Avoid or use sedatives and alcohol sparingly. Before taking sedatives, inform your doctor about your snoring and refrain from consuming alcohol at least two hours before bedtime. Your central nervous system is depressed by sedatives and alcohol, which causes your muscles—including the tissues in your throat—to relax excessively.

Give up smoking. Along with many other health benefits, quitting smoking may also lessen snoring.

Make time to sleep. Adults ought to strive for a minimum of seven hours of sleep every night. The amount of sleep that children should get depends on their age. Children in preschool should receive 10 to 13 hours each day. Teenagers should get eight to ten hours a day, while school-age children require nine to twelve.

Identification Your doctor will examine your medical history, along with your signs and symptoms, in order to diagnose your condition. A physical examination will also be conducted by your physician. Read More: Snoring Solution To determine the severity of the issue, your doctor might question your partner about the times and patterns of your snoring.…