RW - foRWard Health & Wellbeing eMag - May 24 - Flipbook - Page 43
How is snoring treated?
One treatment is called a Mandibular
Advancement Splint. It looks a bit like a mouth
guard. You wear it between your teeth while you
sleep. It pushes your lower jaw forward. This
gives you a wider airway. It needs to be specially
昀椀琀琀ed to you. You will need to see a den琀椀st or oral
surgeon for this. This is because di昀昀erent people
have di昀昀erent mouth shapes. It works for some
people but not for others.
Some treatments s琀椀昀昀en the roof of your mouth.
This makes it vibrate less. This can be done using
lasers, microwave rays or injec琀椀ons. Laser surgery
on the throat may work for some people. But
it can be painful. Only an Ear, Nose and Throat
surgeon can do this.
For children who snore, it is common to take out
the tonsils as tonsillar enlargement is a common
cause. This o昀琀en succeeds. For adults with large
tonsils, the same thing can also be done.
Some people snore because of the shape of their
tongue or the roof of their mouth. Others snore
because their nose is blocked. In all of these cases,
surgery in the problem area can help. A type of
surgery called uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP)
used to be common. Here, the surgeon operates
on the back of the throat to make it wider. But it
only ever worked for some people and has a low
success rate in the long term.
Posi琀椀onal therapies to encourage you to sleep on
your side can be helpful but are o昀琀en ine昀昀ec琀椀ve
in keeping you on your side throughout sleep.
Herbal or enzyme treatments might help with
allergies. If this is why you snore, then they might
help. But if you’re snoring for another reason, then
they will do nothing.
Nasal dilator strips can unblock your nose. But by
themselves they won’t stop snoring.
What might your doctor do?
Problem snoring maybe an early
warning signal that sleep apnoea is
present. Your GP can refer you to
a sleep specialist who will probably
want you to do a sleep study. Sleep
Apnoea is a serious health issue
that needs a琀琀en琀椀on.
What could you do?
If you are overweight, losing weight
might help. Try and avoid alcohol
for at least four hours before
sleeping. If your snoring is made
worse by an allergy, try and stay
away from whatever sets it o昀昀.
Where and when should you
seek help?
Get help if your snoring is
bothering you or your household.
If you see a doctor about snoring,
you might want to bring your
partner with you, if you have one.
This is so that they can talk to the
doctor about what happens when
you’re asleep.