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(08) 6110 0570admin@pdchealthhub.com.auSnoring is the sound of your throat vibrating as you breathe in during sleep. Not everyone who snores has sleep apnoea, but heavy snoring can be the first sign of it, so it is worth checking.
Snoring happens when the pharynx, the part of the throat behind the mouth and nose, vibrates as air passes through it. The muscles there relax during sleep, the airway narrows, and the narrower it gets the louder the snore.1,2 Snoring is common, it affects more men than women, and middle aged people snore the most. Several things make it worse: extra weight around the neck, alcohol in the evening, sleeping on your back, a blocked nose from a cold, hay fever or allergy, smoking, pregnancy, and some medicines that relax the throat muscles.1,2
Snoring on its own is a noise, not a diagnosis, and not everyone who snores has sleep apnoea.2 Problem snoring can be an early warning signal that obstructive sleep apnoea is present, where the airway repeatedly narrows or closes, breathing pauses and blood oxygen drops.1 Untreated sleep apnoea is linked with high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes and road crashes, so snoring with daytime sleepiness, witnessed pauses or waking with a gasp should be looked at.3,4 Your GP decides whether a sleep study is needed and arranges it.2,3 Sleepiness at the wheel is the urgent part: stop driving and see your GP the same day.6
What helps depends on the cause. Weight loss if you are carrying extra weight, no alcohol for at least four hours before bed, treating a blocked nose or hay fever, and sleeping on your side rather than your back are the first steps.1,2 A mandibular advancement splint, a custom fitted mouthpiece made by a dentist, suits some people with snoring and milder sleep apnoea. Nasal strips can open a blocked nose but will not stop snoring on their own.1,2 If a sleep study confirms sleep apnoea and your doctor prescribes CPAP, the mask and pump hold the airway open overnight and stop the snoring too.5
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Symptoms are a guide, not a diagnosis. Your GP confirms the diagnosis; our team helps you manage it day to day.
The teams and services that most often support people with this condition. They work from one shared plan, and one GP referral reaches all of them.
This page follows Australian guidance: the Sleep Health Foundation fact sheets on snoring, obstructive sleep apnoea and CPAP, and Healthdirect's information on snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea.
Not necessarily. Not everybody who snores has sleep apnoea, and snoring on its own is a noise rather than a diagnosis. But problem snoring can be an early warning sign, so snoring that comes with daytime sleepiness, witnessed breathing pauses, or waking with a gasp needs a GP appointment and probably a sleep study.
It depends on the cause. Losing weight if you are carrying extra weight, avoiding alcohol for at least four hours before bed, treating a blocked nose or hay fever, and sleeping on your side rather than your back are the changes most likely to help. A mandibular advancement splint made by a dentist helps some people. Surgery is a later option for a specific blockage, and healthdirect notes that one of the common operations has a low success rate in the long term.
Alcohol relaxes the muscles of the throat, so the airway narrows further and vibrates more. The effect is strongest when you drink close to bedtime. Leaving at least four hours between your last drink and sleep is the usual advice.
Nasal strips can open a blocked nose, which is useful if congestion is your problem, but they will not stop snoring on their own. A mandibular advancement splint is a different thing: it is custom fitted by a dentist or oral surgeon and works for some people, not all. Our pharmacists can tell you what a product can and cannot do before you spend money on it.
Bed partners often lose more sleep than the person snoring, and some lie awake listening to the breathing pauses. Book your partner in with their GP and go to the appointment, because you can describe what happens during the night and they cannot. In the meantime, the side sleeping and alcohol changes are the quickest things to try.
Tell us what is going on and we will point you to the right discipline, or to more than one. Most people start with a single appointment and leave with a plan the rest of the team can see.
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