Snoring Treatment Solutions in Burbank & San Diego, CA
Improve Your Snoring & Get a Good Night’s Sleep
Snoring is one of the most common sleep conditions, and it affects everyone from time to time. When snoring is a chronic problem, it can indicate a serious health condition. It can also interrupt your sleep and keep you from getting a good night’s rest. At SoCal Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers, we’re committed to helping our patients learn how to prevent snoring. We offer personalized snoring treatment methods that can restore your sleep – and health! We’ll start by running a full evaluation to determine what is causing your snoring. Call us today to set up a consultation to find out how to stop snoring in Burbank & San Diego, CA.
What Is Snoring?
Snoring is a hoarse sound that occurs when air passes through the relaxed tissues in your throat. These tissues vibrate as you breathe, causing a variety of different noises we know as snoring. If you snore every once in a while, you likely don’t have a serious problem. Chronic or long-term snoring causes disruptions to your sleep patterns and those of others in your household. Our physicians and ENT specialists can help you find out what is causing your snoring, and how to stop snoring.
What Causes Snoring?
The most common snoring causes are allergies, sinus issues, and congestion that block the flow of air through your mouth and nose. Many people only snore during allergy season or when they have a sinus infection or cold. Other common causes of snoring include:
- Poor muscle tone in your throat and tongue that causes them to relax so far they collapse into your airway
- Bulky throat tissue that impedes your airway
- Large tonsils and adenoids that obstruct the airway
- A long soft palate or uvula which can narrow the opening from your nose to your throat
- Alcohol and drug abuse or overuse
- Sleeping on your back
- Using a pillow that is too soft or too large
- Being sleep deprived
How Is Snoring Diagnosed?
Our ENT specialists and physicians can use a few different methods to determine what causes snoring. It’s important for us to understand the underlying reason for your snoring, especially if you started suddenly with no previous instances of snoring. Snoring could indicate an illness or health condition. Before we proceed with any tests, we’ll ask you about your medical history, medications you’re on, and any symptoms you have. We may recommend imaging tests like an x-ray, MRI, or CT scan to look for obstructions or other problems with your airway. In some cases, we may recommend a sleep study. During a sleep study, you are hooked up to a machine that monitors your breathing, heart rate, brain activity, and sleep function either at home or in a sleep laboratory.
Why Do I Snore Now When I Never Used To?
If you snore now and you never used to, then something has changed with your health, anatomy, or environment. It’s also possible that you didn’t realize you snored in the past because people in your household slept through it or were embarrassed to point it out. You might start snoring suddenly if you:
- Increased your alcohol consumption
- Started smoking or are smoking more than you used to
- Have chronic allergies or sinus infections
- Gained weight
- Aren’t getting enough sleep
- Have changed your sleep position or are sleeping in an unfamiliar bed
When Should You See a Doctor About Snoring?
Occasional snoring doesn’t typically indicate a health problem, and is unlikely to affect your sleep habits for very long. Chronic, long-term, or severe snoring could be an indicator of a more serious condition. You should see a doctor about your snoring if you:
- Are snoring more often than usual
- Started snoring suddenly when you have never snored before
- Have other symptoms along with snoring, like nasal discharge, earaches, jaw pain, teeth pain, sore or scratchy throat, fever, neck pain, trouble swallowing, or pain when swallowing
- Are exhausted during the day
- Are impacting the sleep of others in your household
- Wake up frequently during the night
- Have a hard time falling asleep
- Wake up gasping or choking
What’s the Difference Between Snoring & Sleep Apnea?
Snoring and sleep apnea often go hand-in-hand, but they are two different conditions. Snoring may be a symptom of sleep apnea, but not always. Snoring is noisy breathing, and sleep apnea is a condition that causes your airway passages to close off. This interrupts your breathing and deprives your brain of oxygen. This can happen multiple times a night, leaving you exhausted the next day even though you feel like you should have gotten enough sleep. Without treatment, sleep apnea can cause serious, long-term health complications, and even death.
Our Snoring Treatment Options
Once we determine what causes snoring, we can recommend the most effective snoring treatment for you. We may recommend allergy or sinus remedies if your snoring is short-term and caused by congestion or nasal drainage. For long-term or chronic snoring, we may recommend:
We may recommend that you lose weight, stop smoking or drinking, change your sleep position or pillow, or make other lifestyle changes to reduce your snoring.
Sometimes, custom-fitted oral appliances can help you stop snoring by keeping your airway open.
If your snoring is caused by an obstruction in your airway due to tonsils, adenoids, or another issue, we may recommend surgery to remedy the issue.
A CPAP machine is a treatment for sleep apnea, and can also reduce snoring associated with sleep apnea.
Learn More About Our Snoring Treatments
Call us today or schedule an appointment online for a consultation about your snoring. Our experienced physicians and ENT specialists will do a full assessment of your health and determine the underlying reason for your snoring. Don’t go another night without sleep – call us now!