When you are awake, the muscles in your throat, mouth and nose keep your airways open allowing you to breathe freely and fairly noiselessly. But when you are asleep, your muscles relax which can lead to your airways narrowing and even closing. This causes the soft tissues in your organs to vibrate leading to a snoring sound.
You are more likely to snore if you have a blocked nose, an overbite, enlarged tonsils, are overweight, elderly or suffer from certain medical conditions including hypothyroidism.
If your problem is caused by a blocked nose, you can try steaming before going to bed and drinking herbal remedies with anti-inflammatory effects. If this is ineffective, speak to your doctor as he may be able to prescribe some medication. Getting rid of the cause of the blockage should enable you to sleep silently.
An overbite can be fixed by your dentist. He will fit a mouth guard for you to wear at night or perhaps during the day in severe cases. This is not a painful procedure although most people find it a little uncomfortable. But the benefits outweigh the discomfort so it is worth a try.
If you are overweight, you know the solution. You need to change your lifestyle and adopt both a healthy eating plan and become more active. Aim to lose 1-2 pounds a week as you are more likely to maintain the weight loss. Avoid crash and fad diets as you will probably end up weighing more than when you started.
Smoking causes your throat muscles to get inflamed reducing the airflow and therefore aggravating your snoring habit. There is only one solution which is to stop smoking.
If you are elderly there is very little you can do to recover your youth apart from trying to lead as active a lifestyle as possible. Ask someone to elevate the head of your bed slightly as this may help reduce the snoring.
If none of the above work or you have any other symptoms you should go to your doctor for a full medical checkup. Hypothyroidism can only be treated with medication as your body is not producing enough thyroid hormones. This can cause more severe problems than noisy sleeping and should never be ignored.
If you are on medication for other conditions including, ironically, sleeping tablets, these may be causing your sleepless nights. Certain drugs will cause an allergic-type reaction in your body including causing your muscles and lining of your internal organs to become inflamed. This will have a similar effect to smoking. Speak to your doctor as he may be able to prescribe some alternatives and you won't be looking for snoring solutions any longer.