Do you know that almost one in two adults globally snores? Snoring is in fact THE most universal sleep disorder that plagues people.
And what is snoring exactly? Snoring can be defined simply as noisy breathing or a throaty noise made during sleep. It is usually caused by a blockage, like swollen tissue, in your nasal passage, that prevents air from flowing properly through your throat. Noise is then created by the vibrations of parts of the nose and throat.
Snoring is mostly harmless, medically at least, unless snoring is actually a symptom of sleep apnea, which is a life-threatening sickness. Get yourself checked by your doctor if you think your snoring could be a symptom of sleep apnea. It could pose a social problem though, and create problems between you and your spouse. Snoring is in fact one of the primary causes of marital discord. And that is also a key reason why many people want to find a way to stop their snoring.
Doctors say that there are many ways to stop snoring, and these include strips, tranquilizers and keeping away from alcohol and sleeping pills. But to get to the root of the issue, the blockage in your breathing passage, an easy and effective way is simply through exercise.
So what and how do you exercise?
There is a program, The Stop Snoring Exercise Program that you can try. As having a weak tongue, throat or jaw could be a reason for a blocked airway, do some breathing exercises to strengthen your tongue, throat and jaw muscles.
For example, here are some steps for exercising a tense jaw:
Firstly, put your upper and lower molars together. Then, open your mouth wide so that your molars are as far apart as possible. You have to focus only on your molars. Repeat this for a minimum of ten times, up to twenty times, in a repeated open and close movement.
After five to ten repeated sessions, you should feel your jaw muscles getting stronger and your air passages opening up. When your airways are clear, it becomes easier for air to enter your lungs without causing any vibrations of parts of the nose and throat along the way. This translates into less or even no snoring.
Of course, a tense jaw is not the only cause of snoring, and hence this exercise may not ‘cure’ you from snoring entirely. Other exercises to strengthen your tongue and throat muscles done simultaneously would probably yield better results.