You yourself have no idea, but someone else who sleeps next to you hears it loud and clear:you snore. These are the (unexpected) causes of your snoring.
Pulmonologist-somnologist Reinier de Groot said in an interview with de Volkrant that about 30 percent of adults up to the age of 60 or 65 snore. Men, in particular, snore more often than women. Over the age of 65, no less than 60 percent of men and almost 50 percent of women snore. But where does this annoying sleep sound come from? Snoring can sometimes have unexpected causes.
A glass of alcohol at the end of the day can make you feel relaxed, but it does affect your sleep. Alcohol weakens the muscles of your airways, allowing you to snore, even if you are not normally a snorer.
If there is a blockage in your nose, it can certainly cause snoring. The blockage can be caused by, for example, an allergy or a deviation of your nasal septum. Visit your doctor for a referral to an allergist or an ENT specialist. The allergist can test whether you are allergic to house dust mites, for example. The ENT doctor can check whether you have an abnormality in your nasal septum and whether something can be done about it.
Read also: Tips against snoring
Are you a back sleeper? Then there is a good chance that you snore. If you sleep on your back, your jaw and tongue can sink to your throat, causing snoring. Research shows that some 92 percent of those who are sleep deprived can breathe better if they do not sleep on their backs.
So try to sleep on your side if possible
Being overweight can cause your muscles around your throat and neck to slacken and you also have more tissue in those places. This causes snoring. Try to reach a healthy weight to reduce/prevent snoring.
A malfunctioning thyroid gland can also cause you to snore. Other symptoms of thyroid dysfunction include fatigue, weight gain, dry skin, thinning hair, and depression.
The older you get, the more likely you are to snore. Rode? Weakening tissue. For example, by singing more often, you can train the muscles around your airways, reducing the chance of snoring. Special adhesive strips that you apply to your nose can also help.
Everyone looks different, so the shape of the mouth also differs from person to person. For example, if you have a low, thick and soft palate, the chance of snoring is high. There are mouthpieces that you can insert at night to reduce snoring.
As we wrote earlier in this article:men snore more often than women. This may be due to the build of a man, but men can also consume more alcohol than women, for example.
