The most common reason for snoring is extra weight. Fat accumulates in the base of tongue and side walls of your throat. Not only does this narrow the airway but it makes it floppy. Weight loss, expecially in combination with excercise, often cures snoring and sleep apnea. It will at least improve it and improve your chances of cure through other methods.

This is when the acid from your stomach comes up into your esophagus and throat. It can occur only when sleeping which may not give much symptoms. The chance of having this problem goes way up in heavy snorers. When you snore, you have to suck in a lot harder to get a breath. This also sucks acid up from the stomach. People who snore are often overweight which makes reflux worse. When acid comes into your airway it causes swelling, making fluid build up under the surface. This makes the airway smaller and floppy, which worsens snoring, which worsens reflux, which worsens snoring....I think you get the picture. Reflux has also been shown to decrease the sensation in your throat.  This decreases the reflex which makes the muscles in your throat tighten to open the airway if there is narrowing.

If there are any symptoms of reflux, you should talk to you doctor about treating this as it may make your snoring and sleep better.

Sinus problems include allergies, chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps, and chronic irritant exposures (like smoking). These can narrow the airflow through your nose, forcing the air to move faster, and resulting in worsening snoring. Any chronic inflamation also builds up fluid making things more collapsible. If your nose is mostly blocked, you will resort to mouth breathing. This pushes your tongue back further into the airway narrowing it and makes you inhale dry air. Treating sinus problems, using salt water sprays or irrigations, allergy pills, and prescription medications sprayed into the nose, can improve snoring.

There are two types of nasal dilators which improve nasal airflow and can help snoring in some.  These are nasal strips and nose cones.  Nasal strips stick to the outside of your nose and pull up to open the airway.  Nose cones are placed in the nose and lift up from the inside.  These are available without prescription.

Smoking: This is a bit of a touchy subject for many people, but any toxin or chemical exposure causes airway inflamation or swelling. Some people get away with it, others do not (that is why 'so and so' smokes and doesn't snore). Inflamation means fluid is building up under the surface, narrowing the airway and making it more floppy. Notice a trend here?

So what I am saying is what all docs have been saying...stop smoking, lose weight, and excercise. No problem eh? So now what?

What are sleep devices?