5 ways to stop snoring

As snoring can be related to lifestyle, there are some simple changes you can make to minimise it.

Snoring self-help tips:

• Maintain a healthy diet and weight. Being overweight by just a few kilograms can lead to snoring. Fatty tissue around your neck squeezes the airway and prevents air from flowing in and out freely.
• Try to sleep on your side rather than your back. While sleeping on your back, your tongue, chin and any excess fatty tissue under your chin will probably relax and squash your airway. Sleeping on your side prevents this.
• Avoid alcohol before going to bed. Alcohol causes the muscles to relax more than usual during a normal night's sleep. This added relaxation of the muscles makes the back of the throat collapse more readily, which then causes snoring.
• Quit or cut down on smoking. Cigarette smoke irritates the lining of the nasal cavity and throat, causing swelling and catarrh. If the nasal passages become congested, it's difficult to breathe through your nose because the airflow is decreased.
• Keep your nasal passages clear so that you breathe in through your nose rather than your mouth. Try rubbing a few drops of eucalyptus or olbas oil onto your pillowcase. If an allergy is blocking your nose, try antihistamine tablets or a nasal spray. Ask your pharmacist for advice, and see your GP if you're affected by an allergy or condition that affects your nose or breathing.

Commercial stop-snoring devices

There are a range of stop-snoring treatments and devices on sale. These include nasal strips, which encourage you to breathe through your nose, throat sprays to ease air flow, and devices that reposition the jaw. Your pharmacist can tell you what's available, or visit the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association's website for a list of available products.

Snoring surgery

For serious cases of snoring, surgery to correct snoring can include fixing structural problems in the nose and removing excess tissue in the mouth and throat.