Can snoring be prevented?

Snoring can have different causes. Firstly, snoring can be triggered by the tongue, which blocks the airways. On the other hand, the base of the palate and the uvula can sink down towards the tongue, partially blocking the airways.

Snoring is therefore not conscious and cannot be actively prevented. However, there are various measures, operations and home remedies that can counteract snoring. If you want to avoid snoring, you can take various preventive measures.

For example, one can ensure an open nose. If the affected person breathes through the nose and not through the mouth, a fallen back tongue and a lowered soft palate do not represent any blockage of the airway, because in this case the airway does not lead through the mouth but through the nose. Thus, as a preventive measure, it is important to always have a clear nose.

Also allergies or similar should not affect nasal breathing. A possible snoring can also be prevented by specifically reducing meals in the evening as well as an average body weight. Another possibility to counteract snoring can be to slightly raise the headboard and to avoid the back sleeping position.

Especially on the internet you can find numerous remedies against snoring, as many people are directly affected by it. Unfortunately, it also affects relatives, especially partners, who sleep directly in the same room. The most important thing is to know the individual cause in order to fight exactly this.In many hospitals it is possible to spend a night in a sleep laboratory in the pneumology ward (lung ward).

Here, the patient is closely observed and monitored while he/she sleeps. In this way, sleep apnea and breathing interruptions can also be detected. For some people this is very easy.

If you are overweight, for example, it helps a lot if you lose weight. The causes of sleep apnea, muscle relaxants and tranquilizers can also be easily minimized as causes or completely eliminated by completely omitting them or by dosing them again correctly. For enlarged pharyngeal and palatine tonsils an operation is of course a possibility.

The same applies to nasal polyps. Of course, it is also possible to operate on a crooked nasal septum, which would certainly reduce snoring in some patients. For those who snore in a supine position, it is recommended that they lie on their side if possible or bump into each other again and again while sleeping so that they turn to the side.

Otherwise, there are some other aids such as the bite splint. It looks like a bite and is pushed into the mouth and screwed tight. The lower jaw is pushed forward and thus the throat area is widened.

This allows the patient to breathe more easily again without obstructing the airways. You can also find certain plasters on the Internet which are stuck on the nose or inside the nose and which are supposed to curb snoring. Another measure against snoring is breathing protection.

This is a breathing mask that is worn during the night and which prevents the airways from collapsing due to the airway pressure, which can be adjusted variably or constantly. In this way, the airways are always clear so that one can sleep and breathe well. This also helps very well if you suffer from sleep apnea.

Nevertheless, there is a problem here too. The device is not completely silent. And it is a bit uncomfortable if you have to wear this device on your face.

To counteract snoring, household remedies can often make a big contribution. For this purpose there are so-called “anti-snoring oils” or “anti-snoring sprays”, which are produced on a vegetable basis. These oils or sprays are applied directly to the palate.

This is intended to artificially moisten the palate, thereby increasing the tension of the tissue. By the air stream, which flows during the respiration by the respiratory tract in the mouth range, the palate and in particular the soft palate can be set no longer so strongly in oscillation. This results in a reduced or no snoring.

The oils used are usually made from olive oil and rue. Another way to avoid snoring is to inhale before going to bed. A congested nose is a very common cause of snoring and can be remedied.

Inhalation can be done either with the help of an inhaler or simply with a pot of water. By means of both techniques warm water vapour reaches the nose and upper airways and the blockage can be effectively removed. Essential oils such as eucalyptus, mountain pine or tea tree oil are added to the pot or in the inhaler.

In general, drinking tea before going to bed can also counteract snoring. Especially the varieties nettle, lime-tree blossom, sage or arnica are considered suitable. A sleep laboratory usually represents a specialized form of a hospital ward.

Surgeries or therapies are hardly ever performed here. The stay in a sleep laboratory should serve various forms of sleep examination. For example, during sleep, brain activity is recorded, breathing is measured and an ECG is written.

In this way, the sleep phases and various bodily functions during sleep can be precisely monitored, so that possible causes of snoring can be uncovered. Surgical interventions promise great success against snoring. In most cases, however, these are irreversible interventions, the results of which are irreversible.

Some methods are mainly practiced in the USA and are still controversial in the German medical system. Nevertheless, one or the other surgical method can already be found at German ENT clinics.

Tightening of the mucous membrane of the palate and throat (Uvula-Palato-Pharyngo-Plastic, UPPP)This is one of the oldest surgical procedures for treating snoring or sleep apnea syndrome (sleep apnea; obstructive sleep apnea syndrome; OSAS).
In more than half of all operated patients, this method brings improvement.Under general anesthesia, the palate and throat muscles are tightened or constricted, collapsing and the resulting snoring sound is counteracted. In addition, the uvula is removed so that it can no longer resonate with the turbulence during inhalation. As a rule, the tonsils are also removed (tonsillectomy) because they are usually enlarged during snoring and lead to an unnecessary narrowing of the pharynx.

The complications after such an operation are relatively minor. Occasionally there is bleeding at the site of the removed palatal tonsils, but this can be well treated today. The pharyngeal tightening (pharyngoplasty) causes swallowing difficulties in the first few days, which usually disappears with the healing of the surgical wounds.

However, since more modern methods are available today, this radical operation is only performed in a few cases.
Uvula-Palato-Plasty with the laser (Laser-assisted Uvula-Palato-Plasty, LAUP)This method is similar to the conventional technique used for tightening the palate and pharyngeal mucosa (Uvula-Palato-Pharyngo-Plasty, UPPP). However, a fine laser beam is used to remove the uvula and tighten the palate. The laser simultaneously cuts and closes the edges of the wound.
This gentler technique can be performed under local anesthesia and on an outpatient basis (USA). Nevertheless, an inpatient phase is recommended in this country. In more than 60 percent of cases, the condition improves completely or patients report a significant reduction in snoring.
Artificial scarring and narrowing of the throat (radiofrequency therapy)If you are very afraid of surgical interventions, you can choose a therapy without knife or laser.
With radiofrequency therapy, one tries to artificially stimulate the throat to shrink, i.e. to narrow it. With a small probe, which briefly emits an electric current, an artificial scar is created in some parts of the throat, which ultimately narrows the throat. This method is still very new.

The patient can go home immediately after the treatment and usually has no pain. The only disadvantages are that radiofrequency therapy is currently not paid for by health insurance companies and it takes up to four sessions to achieve the full effect.
Artificial scarring with a foreign substance (Injection Snoreplasty)This procedure is only performed in the USA. Similar to radiofrequency therapy, one tries to tighten the throat without cuts or injuries so that it does not collapse when inhaled and lead to snoring.
There are some liquids (3% sodium (sodium) tetradecyl sulfate (STS), alcohol) to which bodily tissue reacts with scarring and shrinkage when injected into the tissue. This physical reaction is used in this method. After injecting such a substance, a stiffening of the palate due to scarring occurs within a few weeks.

If the therapy is unsuccessful, a repetition is possible.
Insert pins into the fluttering palateSince the snoring noise is also caused by the “flabby” palate near the throat (soft palate, Palatum molle), one has considered to simply splint it. This is a rather new minimally invasive procedure. Three implants of cylindrical plastic pins are used for splinting the soft palate.
These implants stiffen the soft palate and thus reduce or eliminate snoring. This procedure also takes place under local anesthesia and can be performed on an outpatient basis. If you ask the ENT physician what he thinks about this procedure, he will probably find it difficult to neither recommend nor advise you against it.

Not many snorers have chosen this procedure and so it is difficult for doctors to make a statement about long-term and satisfactory results.
Folding up the oscillating uvula (Uvula Flap)To prevent the uvula from oscillating with the turbulence of breathing, it is folded up and sutured to the palate. However, some patients complained of swallowing and speaking difficulties after this procedure.
Transpalatal advancement pharyngoplasty (TAP)This method is rarely performed and aims to tighten the throat to prevent collapse and the associated snoring noise. It involves narrowing the lower edge of the soft palate and removing part of the hard palate, which consists of bone.Then the contact of the soft palate with the hard palate is restored by suturing.
The operation is performed under general anesthesia. The soft palate (Pallatum molle) is the roof of our oral cavity, which we can just about reach with the tip of our tongue. The hard palate (Pallatum durum) lies between the soft palate and the front teeth.

Under the mucous membrane there is bone.
Improvement of nasal breathing with correction of nasal septum curvature and nasal concha reduction (nasal septoplasty, septum resection). If the cause of snoring is a narrowing of the nasal passages, the otorhinolaryngologist (ENT) recommends correction of the curvature of the nasal septum and reduction of the nasal concha. The disturbing, curved parts of the nasal septum (septum cartilage and septum bone) are removed and re-inserted in a straightened position.
At the same time, the nasal conchae are reduced in size. Depending on the severity of the nasal septum curvature, this is performed as an outpatient procedure or as an inpatient procedure lasting a few days. If the ear, nose and throat specialist also has to relocate bone tissue in addition to cartilage tissue, an inpatient admission is usually necessary.

The permeability of nasal breathing is considerably improved during this procedure. The negative pressure in the airways is reduced and a collapse of the throat is less likely.

Osteopathy is an art of healing in which an osteopath examines and treats the affected person with his hands only. When an osteopath is consulted because of snoring, there are different ways of approaching the examination and treatment.

The main focus is to free the nose from blockages or other constrictions and blockages. The so-called nasal widening treats possible blockages, narrow nostrils or nasal mucous membrane adhesions. It often happens that the osteopath cannot completely clear the nose the first time, so that one or two further treatments are necessary.