According to research, more than 41% of the UK adult population snores – though the NHS reassures us that it’s not usually caused by something serious. However, if snoring is disrupting your sleep and life, and isn’t eased by lifestyle changes, it could be time to see your GP.

Often the first step in deciding whether you should be worried about snoring is to understand some of the causes – and which signs could indicate an underlying health condition.

We’ll cover some of these below.

What is snoring?

When we sleep, the vibration of soft tissues in our throat, mouth, and nasal passages creates the distinctive rumbling sound we know as snoring.

This vibration usually happens when air can’t flow easily through your nose and mouth (often due to a blocked nose or the tongue falling back into the throat). This causes the surrounding tissues – particularly the soft palate – to flutter as air moves past them during breathing. Think of it like a flag flapping in the wind, but happening inside your upper respiratory tract.

Who is affected by snoring?

As we’ve mentioned, the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association estimates that 41.5% of the UK adult population snores – which is around 15 million people. Interestingly, 58% of snorers are between 50-59 years of age.

Research also suggests that men are around twice as likely to snore as women and are louder snorers. There are 10.4 million men who snore, compared with 4.5 million women.

Snoring can impact both the snorer and anyone else sleeping in the same room. As a result, snoring is thought to affect 30 million people in the UK.

Who is affected by snoring

What makes people more likely to snore?

Several factors can cause the flow of air through your mouth and nose to become restricted.

The NHS lists some of the main causes of snoring as…

  • Being overweight
  • Smoking
  • Drinking too much alcohol
  • Sleeping on your back

The Sleep Foundation also lists other risk factors for snoring including…

  • Pregnancy
  • A relatively small or displaced jaw
  • Postmenopausal status
  • Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
  • Endocrine disorders
  • Genetic syndromes

When to see your doctor about snoring

In many cases, snoring isn’t caused by anything serious. However, the NHS advises making an appointment with your GP if…

  • You feel sleepy during the day
  • Your breathing stops and starts when you sleep
  • You make gasping or choking noises while you sleep

These can be signs of sleep apnoea, a condition that affects breathing during sleep and can be dangerous if left untreated. The NHS website has more information about sleep apnoea.

Even if you don’t have sleep apnoea, snoring may affect your sleep by waking you up and preventing deep sleep – something still worth talking to your GP about. Poor sleep is linked to a huge range of health conditions, both physical and mental, and can also affect memory and concentration.

Other reasons to speak to your GP about your snoring are if…

  • Lifestyle changes aren’t helping
  • Your snoring is having a significant impact on you or your partner’s life

What happens at your appointment

When you visit your GP about your snoring, they’ll ask you questions about your experiences – including the impact snoring has on your life. If a partner or someone else has witnessed your snoring, it can be helpful for them to accompany you to your appointment and describe it.

Your GP will usually look inside your nose and mouth, too, to check for anything that could be causing a problem. If the cause is unclear, they may do a blood test or refer you to a specialist for further tests.

What medical treatments are available for snoring?

Different medical treatments are available to help people stop snoring, depending on the cause.

For example, oral devices fitted by dentists can bring the tongue forward so it’s not blocking the throat. Or, if your snoring results from sleep apnoea, treatment may involve using a CPAP machine. You can read more about this on the NHS website.

It can also be a good idea to make sure chronic allergies – like hay fever or dust allergies – are being treated so you aren’t going to bed congested.

In some cases, if other treatments don’t help, surgery may be offered to treat snoring. However, it’s not widely available on the NHS and isn’t always successful, meaning snoring can come back afterwards.

Regardless of whether medical treatment is recommended, your doctor will probably talk to you about making some lifestyle changes, which we’ll cover below.

7 tips to stop snoring

7 tips to stop snoring

1. Sleep on your side

When we sleep on our backs, our tongue can fall to the back of our throat, partially blocking airflow. In some cases, this can easily be fixed by sleeping on our side.

If you struggle to sleep on your side, check out these tips from the Sleep Foundation, which include placing a small pillow between your knees to relieve pressure on your hips and choosing the fetal position (legs bent and curled towards the chest) to relieve pressure in the back.

2. Raise the head of your bed

You could try using bed risers or pillows to raise the head of your bed. Sleeping in a slightly more upright position can help to keep airways open and reduce snoring.

3. Wear nasal strips or nasal dilators

Nasal strips can be purchased in pharmacies and supermarkets, and online (such as on Amazon). They stick onto the bridge of your nose and open up the nasal passages to make breathing easier and more effective.

There are also nasal dilators, which act a bit like tongs, sitting inside the nose and pushing the nostrils open.

4. Maintain a healthy weight

Extra weight on the neck and stomach can compress the airways, rib cage, and lungs, making breathing more difficult – and causing snoring. Therefore, losing a few pounds and maintaining a healthy weight can make all the difference to your snoring and quality of sleep.

While the idea of losing weight can feel daunting, it can help to create some small manageable goals – such as trying some new healthy recipes, walking more, and practising mindful eating.

5. Avoid alcohol and other sedatives before bed

Alcohol and other sedatives, like sleeping pills, can relax the muscles in the mouth, throat, and nose, making it easier for them to vibrate noisily. While alcohol doesn’t solely cause snoring, it’s likely to make snoring more pronounced in people who are prone to it.

Snoring aside, alcohol can also prevent you from entering rapid eye movement (REM sleep) – a necessary stage in the sleep cycle. This is the phase when most dreams occur and it’s important for brain development, memory, emotional processing, and concentration.

Therefore, one of the best things you can do for your sleep, in general, is to cut down on alcohol – or avoid it where possible – before bedtime. To help with this, check out our article: 13 affordable and tasty alcohol-free drinks.

6. Try mouth exercises

Research has found that doing mouth exercises (also known as myofunctional therapy) while awake can help tone the airway and tongue muscles, making them less likely to be floppy and vibrate during sleep.

Drawing on existing research, the Sleep Foundation suggests doing mouth exercises for at least 10 minutes per day for three months for best results.

Exercises include pressing your tongue into the roof of your mouth and pronouncing vowel sounds. To read the full instructions for these exercises and others, have a read of this page from the Sleep Foundation.

7. Quit smoking

As the NHS tells us, smoking irritates the nose and throat causing swelling and catarrh. This narrows the airways, which can lead to snoring. The more cigarettes you smoke, the more this congestion increases. And it doesn’t just affect active smokers – passive smokers can be affected by inflammation and congestion of the nose and throat passages, too, increasing the risk of snoring.

Therefore, quitting smoking may help reduce snoring and improve your sleep quality. While this can feel daunting, with the right support, it’s entirely possible. You can find out more in our article: 7 tips for quitting smoking.

Final thoughts…

Snoring affects 30 million of us in the UK – and while it’s often not caused by anything serious, in some cases, it can be a sign of an underlying condition, like sleep apnoea. Therefore, it’s important to know when to see your GP. For example, if you make choking or gasping noises while you sleep or snoring is having a big impact on your or your partner’s life.

The good news is that there are also plenty of lifestyle changes you can make to improve your snoring, such as quitting smoking and sleeping on your side.

For further sleep-related reading, check out our articles: 10 foods and drinks to help you sleep better and How to design the perfect bedroom for sleep.

What’s your experience with snoring? Have you tried any of the tips above? We’d love to hear from you in the comments below.