Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio, Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here with a classic episode from the Vault. Snoring can be so annoying that it seems like a simple fix is too good to be true. But most of the time, getting a sleeper to rest on their side instead of on their back camp stop their snores. Today's episode explores why Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bom here, almost half of all adults snore. Loud and persistent snoring may be a symptom of sleep apnea,
a serious sleep condition that requires medical attention. But is it true that most snoring problems can be fixed just by sleeping on your side first? A quick snoring primer. Snoring is the result of an obstruction of the breathing pathways during sleep. As you drift off to sleep, your mouth, tongue, and throat relax. The soft tissue in your throat can relax to the point that it partially blocks your airway. If air passes through this restricted space, it causes the
tissue to vibrate, producing detail tale rumble. The narrower that your airway is, the more forceful the flow of air will be, which increases the vibration of the tissue and makes your snoring sound even louder. The root causes of snoring vary from person to person. Obesity is a common underlying reason for storing because excess weight on the neck
and chest compresses breathing pathways. Other causes can include allergies they cause congestion and inflammation that tighten airways in the nose and throat, and drinking alcohol before sleep, which relaxes the throat muscles. And some people are just born with an extra thick soft palette or a low hanging uvula that obstructs air flow to the throat. So where does sleep position come into all of this? Sleep experts agree
that sleeping on your back exacerbates snoring. That's because when you're asleep, your tongue, soft palate, and throat muscles automatically relax, and if you're sleeping on your back, those relaxed muscles will sag downward and backward, increasing the odds of an
structed airway. Sleeping on your side is most effective on true tongue snoreres where the chief cause of the obstruction is a relaxed tongue blocking your airway, but turning on your side won't necessarily solved the snoring problem if it's an allergy or obesity issue. The trouble beside sleeping is a cure is that unconscious people are terrible at following directions.
If your bed partner has a hard time maintaining a side sleeping position, you might try using pillows to prop them up, or place a tennis ball under their shirt in the middle of their back to remind them to turn over with their permission. Of course, today's episode is based on the article thus sleeping on your side stop Snoring on how stuff works dot com, written by Dave Rhodes.
Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com, and it's produced by Tyler Clang. For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.