Senior Health

Tips and Treatments for Snoring Seniors

by Jim Miller
Most people don’t think there’s much they can do to fix their snoring problems, but that’s not true anymore. Today, there are number of viable tips and treatments that can make a big difference for snorers and their suffering spouses. Here’s what you should know.

Snoring is very common. If fact, it’s estimated that nearly half of all adults in the U.S. snore at least occasionally, and 25 percent snore habitually. But men are the ones who tend to be loud problem snorers, as well as people who are overweight. And snoring often gets worse with age.  

Self-Help Remedies
While there’s no sure-fire cure for snoring, there are a variety of things you can try to help reduce or eliminate the problem, including:

• Slim down: If you’re overweight, a 10 percent loss of body weight can help open up your airway and reduce snoring.
• Stop smoking. If you smoke, quitting will help. Smoking causes inflammation in the upper airways that can make snoring worse.
• Avoid alcohol and sedatives: Sleeping pills, painkillers, tranquilizers and alcoholic beverages all relax the muscles in the throat which makes snoring more likely. You should avoid all of these three to four hours before bed time.
• Change sleeping positions: Snoring is more common when you sleep on your back. To prevent this, sew a tennis ball in the back of a t-shirt or your pajama top. This will make sleeping on your back uncomfortable and teach you to sleep in a more breathing friendly side position. Or, buy a snoring pillow that’s designed to promote side sleeping. The Sona Pillow (SonaPillow.com) and Sleepright Side Pillow (Amazon.com) are two popular brands.
• Tilt the bed: Raising the head of the bed by four inches can also help reduce snoring by helping you breath easier. You can do this by placing some bricks or boards under the headboard legs, or purchase some inexpensive bed raisers. Or insert a foam wedge under the head of the mattress.
• Clear nasal passages: If nasal congestion is causing you to snore, nasal strips such as Breathe Right may help, or if allergies are the cause, try steroid or saline nasal sprays. Antihistamines can help with allergies, but can worsen snoring. Also consider purchasing a humidifier for the bedroom. This can help to reduce congestion and moisturize the throat.
  

When to See a Doctor
Loud snoring can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea (SleepApnea.org), a serious condition in which the snorer stops breathing many times a night. Left untreated, it can cause high blood pressure and can sharply increase the risk for stroke and heart attack. 

If you are frequently sleepy during the day, stop breathing during sleep, or snorts awake, gasping for breath, then it’s time to see an otolaryngologist or a sleep specialist who may recommend an overnight study at a sleep center (SleepCenters.org). And even if you don’t have these symptoms, these types of doctors can help ease your snoring if the other remedies have failed

A common treatment for sleep apnea and severe snoring is a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device. This involves sleeping with a snorkel-like mask that’s hooked up to a machine that gently blows air up your nose to keep the passages open.

Other treatment options include an oral appliance that fits into the mouth over the teeth like a removable mouth guard or retainer. And the new Provent therapy (ProventTherapy.com), which are small nasal devices that attach over the nostrils to improve airflow and breathing.

If these don’t work, surgery is an option too. There are several procedures that are offered today that can help including the new minimally invasive pillar palatal implant, where a surgeon inserts a few one-inch polyester cords into the soft palate to promote scarring and stiffening. A reduction in snoring usually takes a month and has a 75 percent success rate.