Yahoo Lifestyle 
83% of Aussies guilty of 'embarrassing' sleep habit
Picture it: You’re all snuggled into bed and just about to doze off when suddenly, a freight train goes past your street. At least, that’s what it sounds like.
Snoring is the bane of a restful night’s sleep, but whether it’s your partner, roommate or even your dog doing it, it’s worth nipping it in the bud.
And with 'World Sleep Day' coming up on March 18, there’s never been a better time to send the snore packing.
Snoring Stats
A new study of over 2,000 adults found 83 per cent of Australians snore and 57 per cent are disrupting their sleep cycle by waking themselves up throughout the night with their own snoring.
This happens, on average, 2.24 times per night.
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Eighty-six per cent of snorers have had someone else complain to them about their problem and 47 per cent of offenders worry about waking someone else up from their snoring.
The latest research, commissioned by Aussie designed-and-made nasal dilator Mute Snoring, showed half (50 per cent) of Australians wish they didn’t snore and nearly two thirds (60 per cent) are aware snoring can cause health issues and have a huge impact on an individual’s life. This includes not getting enough quality sleep.
Why People Snore
“From a physiological standpoint, snoring is the result of air passing through partially obstructed upper airways in the nose and throat, causing turbulence or a rumbling noise during sleep,” Sleep expert Dr Ellie Cannon tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
“Although it’s perfectly normal for the muscles in the nose and throat to relax while you sleep, they sometimes slacken so that the airways become too narrow for air to come through the nose or pass into the lungs.
"The narrower the airways, the more forceful the airflow and the greater the likelihood that mouth breathing will cause snoring. The tissue in the nose, throat, tonsils, and mouth vibrate producing the hard sounds associated with snoring.”
Risk Factors
Dr Cannon says there are several risk factors that may contribute to snoring, such as:
Gender – It is believed that twice as many men snore as women. However, women who snore are quicker to sustain heart damage, according to a study in the United Kingdom by Dr. Adrian Curta, head of cardiac imaging and radiology resident at Munich University Hospital.
Weight – Being overweight makes you more likely to snore, since weight gain increases fat around the neck.
Age – According to WebMD, 30% of men and women over the age of 30 snore. Dr. Rafael Pelayo, a sleep specialist at Stanford Sleep Medicine Center, believes that snoring worsens as we age because of decreased muscle tone in the throat.
According to the Mayo Clinic, these physical conditions are also known to contribute to snoring:
Nasal obstruction – Chronic congestion caused by allergies and sinus infections, a deviated septum or simply narrow nasal passages may affect your ability to breathe freely through your nose and cause snoring.
Deviated septum- this occurs when the septum, or the thin piece of bone and cartilage that separates the nostrils, becomes crooked or dislocated, it can cause breathing problems during sleep. WebMD states that approximately 80% of all people suffer from a certain degree of misalignment of the septum. While some people are born with a deviated septum, others can get it through trauma and physical injury. A common symptom of a deviated septum is nasal congestion that is worse in one side of the nose than the other, as well as breathing difficulties.
Mouth anatomy – A low and thick soft palate contributes to narrowed airways. Moreover, when the palatine uvula, or the triangular piece of tissue that forms part of the soft palate, is elongated, airflow gets obstructed, creating more tissue vibration, which results in snoring.
Enlarged tonsils and adenoids, or the clumps of tissue on the right and left sides of the back of the throat and the back of the nose respectively, can also cause breathing problems. Those who snore because of enlarged tonsils and adenoids may benefit from getting a tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy in an outpatient setting.
Excessive fat in the neck area – Those carrying extra weight may have excessive weight pushing down on their throat which can narrow the airways.
Obstruction of nose or throat: For any of the reasons mentioned earlier, it’s common for people to open their mouth to breathe. Mouth breathing is strongly associated with snoring.
Why Snoring is Killing Your Sleep
Dr Cannon also says getting enough sleep is important for both mental and physical health, so finding ways to ensure we get the best we can is vital.
“If we don’t get enough sleep this can not only affect our mood or energy levels of course, but our physical health as well," she adds.
"Lack of sleep can be associated with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease, so controlling noise is simple but effective at improving sleep.”
And while it may be difficult to control the noises which interrupt our sleep during the night, whether that’s neighbours and animals outside or noises in our own homes, Dr Cannon says there is nothing more disturbing than lying there trying to sleep and all you can do is tune into your partner snoring next to you – the biggest culprit according to the research.
Effect of Snoring on Relationships
"Thousands of us are very embarrassed by our snoring and will try anything to stop it,” says Dr Cannon.
“Whilst it may be amusing to some, it can have a huge impact on your life – whether you are the snorer, or a person living with a snorer.
"Relationships can really struggle if one person – or even both – snore, as the results show. You may think of it as being something that only affects you and your partner, but for those who feel embarrassed, it also impacts their holiday choices and even whether they travel on public transport.”
How To Stop Snoring
Dr Cannon says that although there are many reasons why someone may snore, finding the right solution will often involve freeing up the airways.
Reducing snoring ultimately improves sleep, which in turn improves overall wellbeing - both mentally and physically.
“A nasal dilator helps to reduce the severity of snoring by opening nasal passages,” she says.
“Reducing snoring by gently opening up the nasal airways using the Mute nasal dilator helps to reduce the severity of snoring and ultimately improves sleep and overall wellbeing - both mentally and physically. In a user trial, 75% of partners reported snoring was less/much less when the snorer used Mute.”
World Sleep Day
World Sleep Day is on March 18 this year, and promotes the importance of ‘quality sleep’ which new research reveals Australians are missing out on due to being kept awake at night by snoring.
So watch out for the hashtags #MuteSnoring and #WorldSleepDay, and speak to your Dr about stopping the snore!
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