A Guide to Better Sleep for Snorers During Winter

Epworth Sleepiness scale

Snoring can disrupt a peaceful night’s rest, not only for the snorer but also for those sharing their sleep space. For those battling with this issue, snoring relief becomes a sought-after solution. As the winter season unfolds, some people notice their snoring intensifies due to factors like dry air and congestion. This guide will explore ways to stop snoring and help you sleep better during the winter months.

Understanding Snoring

Firstly, it is essential to understand what snoring is and why it happens. Snoring occurs when the flow of air through the mouth and nose is obstructed during sleep. This obstruction can be due to several reasons, including poor muscle tone in the throat and tongue, excessive throat tissue, or a long soft palate or uvula.

Seasonal Impact on Snoring

Winter can exacerbate snoring in some people due to factors like dry indoor air, increased susceptibility to respiratory infections, and fluctuations in weight. These changes may worsen pre-existing snoring issues or induce snoring in individuals who usually don’t experience it.

How to Stop Snoring and Sleep Better in Winter

1. Hydrate The air in winter tends to be drier, both outside and in heated homes. This dryness can irritate the nose and throat, leading to snoring. Staying hydrated can help soothe these tissues and reduce snoring. Aim to drink at least eight cups of water per day, and consider using a humidifier in your bedroom to maintain optimal moisture levels.

2. Maintain a Healthy Weight Weight gain, which can occur due to decreased physical activity during colder months, may worsen snoring. Excessive weight around the neck can put pressure on your throat, causing it to collapse and create the snoring sound during sleep. Maintaining a healthy weight through a balanced diet and regular exercise can be beneficial for snoring relief.

3. Sleep Position Your sleeping position can significantly influence snoring. Sleeping on your back can cause the tongue and soft palate to collapse to the back wall of your throat, leading to snoring. Try sleeping on your side to help reduce snoring. There are special pillows available to encourage side-sleeping and stop snoring.

4. Nasal Care Taking care of your nasal health is vital during winter, especially if you’re prone to snoring. Use saline nasal sprays or consider a nasal rinse to clear your nasal passages. If you’re suffering from a cold or allergies, treating them promptly can help mitigate snoring.

5. Limit Alcohol and Sedatives Alcohol and sedatives relax the muscles in the throat and interfere with breathing, often leading to or worsening snoring. Try to avoid these substances, especially before bedtime, to aid in snoring relief.

6. Regular Sleep Routine Maintaining a regular sleep routine can also help stop snoring. A proper sleep routine involves going to bed and waking up at the same time each day. This helps to regulate your body’s natural sleep-wake cycle and may contribute to more restful, snore-free sleep.

Snoring can be a major hurdle to achieving restful sleep. However, by understanding its causes and adopting appropriate lifestyle modifications, you can achieve snoring relief and enjoy better sleep during the winter season. If snoring continues to be a problem, it is crucial to seek medical advice, as it may be a sign of a more serious condition like sleep apnea. Remember, a good night’s sleep is not a luxury but an essential part of maintaining good health and wellbeing.

Snoring Remedies and Snoring Facts

The-Causes-Of-Snoring-Possible-Treatments

The day has ended and the moon shines on the dark velvet night. You gently close your eyes slowly drifting to sleep when suddenly, Zzzzzzzzzzzz. That sound is definitely not music to your or anybody else’s ears!

That sound (that you can’t get out of your head now!) is the nocturnal serenade so many of us play on a nightly basis; snoring.

It’s not only that the noise bothers both the snorer and their partner (if you are like me the noise wakes me up!) but the fact that snoring can affect the whole family because the annoying sound reverberates all throughout the household, especially during the night when things are pretty quiet. However, and more importantly, snoring can be harmful to one’s health in the long run, which is why many individuals are looking for the best snoring remedy that is available.

Some snoring remedies include:

  1. nose strips
  2. special pillows
  3. dental appliances
  4. acupuncture
  5. hypnosis

There are many snoring remedies out in stores. Snoring aids and sleep aids are available at reasonable prices, but if you’ve been snoring for some time, it may be time to seek professional help, as your snoring may be a symptom of sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a serious condition that requires professional help. People actually die from this condition due to the sudden cessation of breathing during sleep which causes strain on the heart. If you think you have sleep apnea you need to seek medical advice immediately and get an overnight sleep apnea test.

I sing seriously to my mom on the phone. To put her to sleep, I have to sing ‘Maria’ from West Side Story. When I hear her snoring, I hang up.

Adam Sandler

Causes of Snoring

The causes of snoring vary from one individual to another. Some snore because they are overweight, while others claim that they snore because of certain types of foods they eat. If you’re overweight, one of the things you need to consider is losing some weight. This will come with many other benefits apart from reducing or eliminating your snoring. A change in lifestyle is the best solution if lifestyle is the cause of your weight, although it might be difficult at first, you will get used to it after some time.

The sleeping position may also trigger snoring. Sleeping with your mouth open, or lying on your back are common causes of snoring. There are sleeping devices that you can use at night to support the jaw and that will keep your mouth closed. Others lie on their side to avoid snoring. I have used many of these devices but some can be very uncomfortable. You will need to try some out before you find one that suits you.

You can also inhale steam before you go to sleep. Your nasal passages will open up, and you will find it easier to breathe. You can also use a system of air filtration that will not only filter our allergens like pet hair, dust, and cigarette smoke but will usually help in opening the nasal passages also.

People are always looking for the best way to stop snoring. To completely stop snoring is quite impossible, but remedies can lessen the ‘snoring scenario’ every night. There is no best among the best; all you can do is find the best remedy that will work for you.

Consult your doctor first before you use any special device. Seeking medical help is the best way to deal with excessive snoring.

J


Some useful books on how to stop snoring for everyone’s sake!

How to get Energy through…Napping?

How to get Energy through Napping

Sleep is becoming somewhat of an obsession in our modern world, hence the reason for this website. One thing that the industrial revolution and climbing the career ladder made us sacrifice is sleep. We have a flurry of research being done in this area and it’s nice to see more light shining on the subject. I’m starting a personal revolution to claim back my sleep by reducing the stressors in my day. 

I’m in Bali at the moment for a little R&R. One of my favourite things about this place besides the villa, private pool, clean air, lush greenery, fresh organic food, the friendly people (…I could keep going), is that I get to nanna nap! Whether you call it a nanna nap, catnap, siesta, power nap, or snooze, napping is one of those forbidden luxuries that has received a bad rap in the western world for being associated with laziness.

Coming from a fast-paced world, I find it hard to switch off immediately when on holiday. It takes me a few days to cleanse my brain of work thoughts, so my initial naps are usually spent thinking about work and life admin, with no actual restorative napping occurring. Sound familiar?  However, now that I am a few days in I’ve had time to unwind and practice my relaxation (who would have thought relaxing needed practice?), work is now a distant memory and I can finally nap properly.

Believe it or not, there is a science behind napping, it’s actually good for you and helps increase productivity. Think about it, when you wake from a short nap you are usually more relaxed, you approach problems with non-emotional ease and overall you are more efficient.

A study at NASA on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness 100%.

If these guys say it’s beneficial, I think I’ll take their advice.

So many disasters have happened as a result of sleepiness and fatigue. These tragedies include Chornobyl, Three Mile Island, The Challenger Explosion, The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, American Airlines Flight 1420 Crash, and the Metro North train crash. On a personal level, when I was suffering from chronic sleep paralysis, I would microsleep behind the wheel daily, that’s scary! All of these occurrences are evidence that sleep and daytime naps are extremely crucial.

I know what you’re thinking, of course, you can nap while you are sitting in Bali by your private pool enjoying a few Bintangs, you don’t have work, kids, or dinner to navigate. You are right, but this holiday will end and I will eventually go back to my real life with all of those real-life challenges. But, one thing I always try to hold onto when I get back is the holiday glow or holiday feeling, and I believe napping can help me do this. So how am I going to do Bali napping during my busy time poor life?

Is Napping Good for You?

Well, I read a book recently called Own the Day, Own your Life by Aubrey Marcus, which has a chapter about napping and its effectiveness. As it goes, we usually fall into a lull about mid-afternoon, that’s when productivity levels decrease and you are more prone to being distracted by Facebook or that 3 pm pick me up coffee or chocolate. Aubrey suggests an afternoon nap during your lunch break to combat this, just for 30 mins, while listening to binaural tunes. This length of time and these tunes basically place you in a state of nap that is restorative and will help you get through the afternoon with an enthusiastic bang! Aubrey has binaural tunes available on his website which you can sample and choose your favourite jam. You can download one for free and purchase the others for as little as $5.

I work in an industrial area and don’t have a fancy office like Google, so I don’t have a beautiful park I can slumber in or a sleeping pod I can escape to, my only option is my car. My plan? After eating my lunch, I will go into my car, recline my seat, put on my binaural jams, start the shutdown process and enter the napping phase. Sounds easy enough, right?

Hmm… I do have some concerns, some of which you are probably thinking too. Firstly, the nature of my work involves clients, demanding clients. It will take a LOT of discipline to peel myself away from emails and switch my phone off to give myself this time to reset. The added challenge is trying to stop thinking about urgent tasks due that day. If it takes me a solid 3 days to stop thinking about work on holidays, will 30 mins daily be enough to reset? Studies have found that even if you can’t fall asleep, just laying down for a short time can lower blood pressure and relieve a small amount of stress. It’s enough to give it a go.

One of my other major concerns is the nap length, depending on whether I had a good night’s sleep or not, I don’t want to fall into a sleep state, because I will wake up more tired than I was to begin with.

I will need to test different nap lengths to see what duration is right for me. A research journal Sleep conducted a study on the benefits of naps and no naps. They found that a 10-minute nap produced the most benefit in terms of reduced sleepiness and improved cognitive performance. A nap lasting 30 minutes or longer increases the risk of sleep inertia, which is the grogginess you sometimes feel after sleep, which is what I don’t want!

Seeing as I haven’t actually found a more feasible solution during my sleep research, I am going to attempt to integrate this into my daily routine as part of my work/life balance. I’ll start with 30 mins and work back to smaller intervals if needed. I’ll report back in a week with my feedback and results- good and bad. Feel free to take this journey with me and share your experience in the comments below.

A few helpful tips…

  • Ensure you are managing the extent of light filtering through to your eyes, so wear an eye mask if you are in a private. If you are in a park, place your hat or light towel over your eyes.
  • Make sure you don’t nap too late in the afternoon as this may affect your night sleep patterns negatively.

Happy Napping!

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Sleeping Disorders in Hollywood

Sleeping Disorders in Hollywood

Sleeping disorders do not discriminate between the rich and famous and us normal-tons. In the glamourous world of Hollywood, it appears as though celebrities are living perfect lives, immune to sickness and disease. However, life in the spotlight can be hard, with gruelling work schedules and constantly having to be on your A-game. This high pressured lifestyle can cause stress, leading to sleeping disorders. Here is a list of 5 celebrities who suffer when it comes to sleep, proving they are still human…

Jennifer Aniston

Celebrities who suffer from sleeping disorders

Sleep walking, also known as somnambulism.

Due to the stress of her TV and film work schedules, along with her very public breakup with Brad Pitt, Jen has admitted to sleep walking. She once said: ‘I sleepwalk. I set off our alarm once. I was outside. The alarm scared the **** out of me and I woke up, and I was out by the pool equipment in the back. I don’t know what I was doing. I heard this yelling because he’s terrified, he hears the alarm and I’m not there!”.

Shaquille O’Neal

Sleep Apnea

Shaq’s wife noticed that he was snoring very loudly and would stop breathing in his sleep. She alerted him to his issue, which is when he decided to see a sleep specialist and was diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea.

He documented his experience with Harvard Medical School to increase the awareness of sleep apnea:

Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel NarcolepsyNarcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a sleeping disorder that is commonly characterised by excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during the day.

In an interview with Esquire Magazine, Jimmy spoke about his condition saying he has fallen asleep in meetings, watching television, driving and evening hosting! Being a comedian, he jokes about his condition and admits it is mild compared to what other sufferers endure.

Restless Legs SyndromeKeith Olbermann

Restless Legs Syndrome

As the name suggests, this sleeping disorder causes unpleasant sensations in the legs, which creates the urge to move constantly them. These episodes commonly happen when going to sleep.

Keith told The New Yorker that this syndrome keeps him from sleeping at night because of an intense urge to get out of bed and move around. He takes medication that helps him get some shut-eye. On at least one occasion, he’s even taken to answering emails on his BlackBerry while waiting for the meds to kick in.

Lady Gaga

Insomnia

Being a celebrity who makes their own music can be obsessive. Lady Gaga revealed that a year after she became famous, insomnia kicked in. She told OK! Magazine: “My passion is so strong I can’t sleep – I haven’t slept for three days,”

“I lie in bed and try to pray and breathe. I have a very overactive mind. I’m the sort of person who’d never take medication to calm myself. It’s maddening. But I love what comes out.”

Insomnia is a severe condition that can be fatal. Michael Jackson, Anna Nicole Smith, and Heath Ledger all suffered from insomnia and died from an overdose of sleeping pills.

If you suffer from insomnia or any other sleeping disorder for that matter, please speak to your doctor or see a sleep specialist.

Aromatherapy Scents for Sleep

Aromatherapy Scents for Sleep

I wasn’t hugely convinced by the effects of Aromatherapy until a close friend got into it and suggested I try it for my sleep issues. So, I did a little research and tried it out for myself one night, and now there is absolutely no going back, it’s become part of my nightly routine. My bedside table now sports a stylish diffuser that helps me fall into a deep, restorative slumber with whatever scent I choose, and I wake up feeling refreshed and energised. Working a highly demanding advertising job, it also keeps my worries and stresses at bay, so I gently fall asleep with positive thoughts and emotions. I would never have thought the benefits of aromatherapy for sleep would be this effective. So, I am here to share my experience, going from a chronic sleep-paralysis and insomnia sufferer to a completely zen and calm sleeping being.

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Dealing with Sleep Paralysis

sleep paralysis demon

As many of you know, I have suffered from chronic sleep paralysis in the past so this topic is very personal to me. I had no idea how common this problem was until I was brave enough to seek help, as I was afraid of being labeled as crazy. At my worst, I had severe insomnia and anxiety, I honestly thought there was a poltergeist out to get me, which was hard to explain to a doctor while maintaining that I was NOT insane, I felt like it made me look even crazier! Understanding how and why Sleep Paralysis happens helped me overcome the debilitating fear associated with this disorder.

– Emily, Owner, Stop Snoring Guide

So, how what is Sleep Paralysis and how does it happen? Read more

Things to Make you Stop Snoring

Things That Make You Stop SnoringI get it, sometimes you just don’t have time to go to the doctor for a problem like snoring. It’s not painful (to you anyway) so there is a lack of urgency to fix it… Until you have friends, family or that special someone sleeping over, then it becomes a code red emergency! To avoid this last-minute panic, let’s deal with the issue now.

So, what are the most popular anti snoring devices out there, that can be conveniently bought without the hassle of visiting a doctor? What products are working for other people, that could possibly be the cure to your snoring problems?

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How Does Sleep Paralysis Happen?

How does Sleep Paralysis Happen?

I have yet to come across a person who does not enjoy sleep. Other than being utterly relaxing, it is scientifically proven that the human body needs a solid 6-8 hours of snooze time to function optimally. Sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, inability to focus and concentrate, exhaustion and so many other issues. We have all been sleep deprived at some point in our lives, but what if you had a sleeping disorder that kept you from sleeping? Not insomnia, rather one that feels like you have woken up in a nightmare, but you can’t move or make a sound. It’s called Sleep Paralysis and for sufferers, it’s absolutely terrifying!

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Healthy Late Night Snacks, That Help Induce Sleep!

Healthy Late Night Snacks

In an increasingly fast-paced time-poor world, a good night’s sleep, preferably 8 hours, interrupted is considered GOLD.

However, life of every age group in this day and age is stressful and this stress may keep people up at night. Every individual is overworked and overscheduled, trying to meet endless deadlines. Despite having days planned and packed down to the minute, a lot of folks have a lot of trouble getting decent shut eye. Some people may have a different kind of sleep related issue. They do not have any problems falling asleep, but more so staying asleep.

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