Snoring

Causes of snoring

Snoring is causedby the vibration of thesoft tissue in your head and neck as you breathe in.

It can affect the:

nasal passages
soft palate a soft layer of tissue at the back of the roof of the mouth
base of the tongue
tonsils two small glands above the tongue where the mouth meets the throat
uvula a small cone-shaped section of tissue that hangs from the soft palate between the tonsils

While you're asleep, the airways in your head and neck relax and narrow. It's thought that the narrowing of the airways increases the speed you breathe out and changes air pressure in your airways. This causes the soft tissue to vibrate by sucking the sides of the airways in.

The same effect can also be the result of partially blocked airways, whichmay be caused by conditions such as enlarged tonsils and Cold .

Evidencesuggests that snoringwill get worse over time if left untreated. The vibrations that occur during snoring appear to damageblood vessels that supply muscles in the head and neck. Over many years, this causes the muscles to weaken.

If your head and neckmuscles are weakened, it will affect their ability to keep your airways open, making you more likely to snore frequently and loudly.

Increased risk

Some things that can increase your risk of habitual snoring include:

obesity particularly if you have a large amount of fat around your neck; people with aneck circumference of more than 43cm (17 inches) usually snore a lot
drinking alcohol alcohol relaxes your muscles when you sleep, which increases the narrowing of your airways
sedatives and some types of antidepressants in some people, these medications can have a similar effect to alcohol on the muscles
smoking tobacco smoke can cause your airways to become inflamed, whichcauses greaternarrowing of the airways
allergic rhinitis where the inside of your nose becomes swollen and inflamed as a result of an allergic reaction to substances such as dust or pollen