How to Stop Snoring, From Exercises to Surgery and Smart Beds

Snoring is often treated as a nuisance, but the article says it can reflect a real breathing problem during sleep. According to speech-language clinician Dolev Braverman, snoring is a mechanical vibration of soft tissue in the throat that usually happens on inhalation, when narrowed airways make airflow harder and tissues collapse and rattle. He says it sits at the mild end of a broader range of obstructive sleep-breathing disorders, with sleep apnea at the severe end.

Braverman says snoring is not just cosmetic or social, even though it often strains couples and can lead to “snoring divorces.” He cites research linking snoring with uncontrolled high blood pressure in adults, and says children who snore repeatedly at night may face cognitive difficulties. Snoring can also damage sleep quality, leaving people tired and less alert, and there are indications it can reduce a partner’s hearing and alter the sleep structure of snoring children.

There is no single fix, because the source of the vibration can vary from the soft palate to the base of the tongue or the epiglottis. Treatment depends on the cause and may include a dental device that advances the jaw, ear, nose and throat surgery to widen the airway or improve nasal airflow, or behavioral therapy from speech-language clinicians that strengthens oral and breathing muscles, improves nasal breathing, corrects swallowing, and trains tongue posture and endurance. In children, enlarged tonsils or adenoids are a common cause, and treatment may include tonsil and adenoid surgery; in some children with a narrow, high palate, early palate expansion may help.

The article also reviews newer technologies. Swiss System, part of Poliron Group, sells the Smart Bed 360, which uses sensors to detect snoring and automatically changes sleep position while monitoring sleep and breathing. Apsent Medical, based at the Innovation, Resilience and Health Hub with the city of Sderot, has developed a system that uses an olfactory stimulus to trigger a breathing reflex without waking the sleeper. For sleep apnea, Rimed Sleep Medicine offers CPAP masks that keep the airway open with positive pressure, and the customized dreamTAP dental splint for patients who cannot adapt to CPAP. At home, Braverman advises avoiding heavy meals, extreme fatigue, and alcohol before bed.