Snoring

Snoring is an age old problem, and all of us have faced it at some point in time. Either we have snored away ourselves and caused an annoyance to others, or have been at the receiving end of some loud snoring ourselves. We all have had a brother or an uncle or a grandma who snores loudly enough for us to comment on what a nuisance it can be, when we are trying to get some sleep at night.

The statistical data on snoring is alarming enough: on an average, close to one third of the adult population snore. In certain demographics, the figure is as high as half the entire adult population.

However it may be, snoring is a problem. Before advances in the field of medicine were made, snoring was considered more a source of embarrassment and annoyance than a health issue. However, recent studies and research have confirmed that it is not just something that we can brush off lightly as 'embarrassment' or 'nuisance' any more. Snoring can have deeper implications than just that.

Let us start by first understanding what snoring is. Snoring is a sound produced when we are sleeping due to some blockage in the air passage. When does one snore? Snoring occurs inevitably in the sleep state. We inhale and exhale air even when we sleep. Usually snoring occurs during air inhalation in the sleep state. However in more chronic cases, the sound emanates even during air exhalation, which is when one may get to hear two different sounds of varying frequency.

What Causes Snoring?

The mechanics of snoring follows a simple law of physics. Snoring is primarily caused by some form of blockage in the air passage. The blockage can be due to fat formation around the throat region in the case of people suffering from obesity, a situation where the tongue slips back into the throat. This happens sometimes when a person sleeps on his back. The blockage can be also due to an allergic reaction, or a wrong alignment of the jaws. The blockage can also be due to the relaxation of the muscles in the air passage, causing them to vibrate and narrow down the air passage. The vibration causes the sound. The narrower the air passage, the more the vibration and hence the louder the snore.

Snoring can also happen when we sleep with our mouth open. While sleeping, we usually sleep with our mouths closed, and the inhalation and exhalation process happens through the nasal passage. However, there are times when we sleep with our mouth open. This can also cause snoring.

When we sleep with our mouth open, the air we breathe in sometimes causes the soft palate or the uvula, which is the tissue mass that exists as a protuberance at the end of the oral cavity near the back of the throat, to vibrate. This vibration causes the sound that characterizes snoring. Snoring does not produce sound at a constant level. Depending on the intensity of the vibration of the palate or the uvula, the sound level can vary, from a gentle rhythmic sound to a loud rumbling noise that can be really unpleasant for the person sleeping near the person snoring.

Effects of Snoring >>