Three Simple Ways to Stop Snoring
Do you want to stop snoring? Do you have a loved one you would like to help achieve a better nights rest (perhaps yourself indirectly)? In this video, Dr. Hayden and Dr. Horsley discuss three things you can do to help reduce snoring.
Stay tuned over the next few days as we continue to send out short videos to help inform and inspire you to take control of your health during this time of uncertainty.
Transcription from Video:
Dr. Hayden: The number one complaint that spouses give to us regarding their significant other (usually the wife complains about the husband) is how can we help with snoring. So Dr. Horsley and I were talking and we wanted to make this video to give you three simple tips to help out with the snoring problem that your husband… or your wife… may have going on. So the first thing, what would you say it is, Dr. Horsley, if you wanted to give help for someone who snores, how might you help them?
Dr. Horsley: The first thing, which you may have heard before, is to lose weight; because extra weight can change how the structure alignment is of the tongue and other structures in the mouth. This imbalance in the throat region can sometimes play a factor, leading toward snoring. Weight gain can also be a factor in several other health conditions that can lead towards snoring. So the first thing I would do would be to lose weight.
Dr. Hayden: So weight loss would be a big deal for everybody to get healthier. As you mentioned before, weight tends to be associated with other health factors and health risks, things like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol. When weight starts going down, some of these other factors start to get better as well. Snoring is sometimes a side effect of these other metabolic conditions. So that’s a great one.
Dr. Hayden: So when trying to lose weight, the second tip would be to avoid the specific inflammatory foods that you react to. Dairy is the most common inflammatory food that individuals consume that leads to increased mucus production and can clog up those airways a little bit. I know my wife is always pushing me and elbowing me when I’m eating things that I’m not supposed to, such as ice cream. As good as blue bell is, when I eat it, I’m a mouth breather all night and I snore a ton. So I know if I’m trying to not snore, I start with watching what I eat- specifically dairy is the most common one.
Dr. Hayden: Identifying the food that messes with you and causes that inflammatory response to be present can definitely affect your snoring. Outside of dairy, what might be some of the most common inflammatory foods that someone may want to experiment with avoiding?
Dr. Horsley: Dairy would definitely be the first one because of how it is associated with mucus. However, gluten is another one that has been shown by research to cross react with dairy. So if you have dairy sensitivity, it is very common that you will also have sensitivity to gluten. So those are the top two inflammatory foods that I would really be sure to take out first. However, other ones that may perhaps be involved would be: corn, soy, nightshades, even chocolate.
Dr. Hayden: Nightshades sounds like a weird one, what are those?
Dr. Horsley: Nightshades are going to be things like eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, paprika, tobacco. Things like that are in the nightshade family. Another thing I would avoid would be artificial sweeteners. These would be things like those lovely little pink, yellow, and white packets on the tables at restaurants. Trade those out for a more natural alternative, such as: stevia, xylitol or real cane sugar.
Dr. Hayden: So a great place to start to help lose weight would be my diet anyway. So what we’re saying is kill two birds with one stone. Look at the inflammatory foods that may be contributing to the problem, and get those out of the diet. This should then help with losing weight, decreasing inflammation in the area, and may help with decreasing snoring.
Dr. Horsley: Exactly.
Dr. Hayden: Those were the first two things: lose weight and avoid inflammatory foods, what might be the third thing that someone might do to help reduce snoring?
Dr. Horsley: If we’ve already done a lot of those other lifestyle factors, a great thing to incorporate would be chiropractic. A lot of the nerves in the head and neck relate to the ligaments, tendons, and muscles in your neck, as well as your jaw and even your tongue. So all of these things can potentially be playing a factor in snoring. So misalignments can create more exacerbations in this head and neck region that may contribute towards snoring. So chiropractic, adjustments and making sure we have proper alignment in our spine can be a big factor in moving in the right direction and can potentially help with snoring.
Dr. Hayden: I know I definitely feel better when I get my neck adjusted. Sometimes when I’m snoring- when I’ve had too much ice cream- it lingers a little bit. Even if I don’t have ice cream every night, if I have it every couple months, it seems to stick with me a little bit longer. Then when Dr. Horsley adjusts me it helps to clear it out much faster and helps me not to have that snoring process. Something in my neck goes weird with certain foods, so when those foods create inflammation, the side effect is the compensation through my muscles in my neck and my nerves. Therefore other things in the body are impacted because of these inflammatory foods.
Dr. Hayden: Three things you can do to try to change snoring would be to: lose weight, take out inflammatory foods (which will help with weight loss), and chiropractic care. Thank y’all very much, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call.