How to Reduce Snoring and Boost Your Overall Health

Snoring can be more than a nuisance to anyone who shares your bed. Loud snoring could indicate that you’re struggling to breathe throughout the night. Specifically, snoring is one of the most common symptoms of a condition called obstructive sleep apnea. 

As apnea specialists, our team at LA Dentists Group can help you find out if you’re living with this condition or if your snoring is unrelated. 

If you do have sleep apnea, we can treat it to not only stop your snoring, but also help you get better sleep while protecting your overall health. Ultimately, if you snore, it’s worth a visit to our office in Glendale, California. 

When snoring could mean sleep apnea

Sleep apnea affects your ability to breathe as you sleep. With obstructive sleep apnea, in particular, your airway collapses. Not only does this impact your breathing, but it contributes to snoring.

That said, there’s not a direct link between snoring and sleep apnea. In other words, not all snorers have sleep apnea, and not everyone who has apnea snores. Still, though, only about 20% of sleep apnea patients don’t snore, so this is a fairly common symptom of this condition.

So, how do you know if your snoring indicates that you have sleep apnea? First off, ask others about the volume of your snoring. Sleep apnea often causes loud snoring. 

Also, check for other symptoms, including:

• Waking up feeling tired
• Headaches in the morning
• A mouth and/or throat that feels dry upon waking
• Trouble concentrating
• Irritability
• Restless sleep
• Waking up gasping for air

If you share your bed with someone, you can also ask them if they’ve seen any signs of pauses in your breathing as you sleep. 

Sleep apnea doesn’t just cause snoring and poor sleep quality. It’s also linked to a wide range of serious health conditions, including stroke, heart attacks, and type 2 diabetes. 

Solving snoring and protecting your health

Our team at LA Dentists Group helps you find the right treatment to support normal airflow as you sleep. This doesn’t just put a stop to your snoring. It also helps you sleep better through the night, shrinking your risk of serious sleep apnea-related health complications. 

Some people solve their sleep apnea — and snoring — with an oral appliance. A mouthguard-like option might be enough to keep your airway open throughout the night. 

Other people need more support. With a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, we can ensure that air flows into and out of your lungs as you sleep. 

To help you find the right option, we offer digital mouth scans at our office. This allows us to develop a custom-fitted device that works and fits comfortably. 

If you think your loud snoring could be from sleep apnea, don’t wait to call our office or book your appointment online.