Snoring Health Problems and its Impact

Snoring is rarely a one way street, by that I mean it will affect at least two people and on many occasions more than that if you live in a compact house.  Putting aside the snoring health problems for a moment it can place a tremendous strain on the relationship which will begin a downward spiral of arguments and loss of patience with each other.  This will mainly stem from the lack of sleep that will particularly apply to the partner as the person who is making all the noise can often sleep through their snoring to some degree.

Men are far more likely to suffer from snoring than women and both sexes are at a greater risk the older they get.  For some, the condition may not be severe enough to disturb them too much and are able to sleep through it.  This can make it very difficult for the partner as the person making all the noise may not consider it to be a problem.  A recent study by the National Sleep Foundation found that 24% of couples sleep in separate rooms and didn’t even want to discuss it with a doctor or a specialist.

For someone who snores rather heavily they will often find their sleep is disturbed several times during the night, in reality their disturbance is often a great deal more than they realise, it can mount to several hundred times a night where the snorer is briefly woken up, gasps for some air and then turns over and promptly falls back to sleep.  So even if the person has been in bed for nine to eleven hours they will still wake up in the morning feeling weary and fatigued.  Pity their poor partner who has to put up with that loud rattling and the constant flipping from one side to the next every night.

So can snoring be harmful to one’s health?  The act of snoring itself is not harmful, the worst that happens is a sore throat and usually a dry mouth but the consequence of someone snoring can lead to many health problems and not just for the person that is doing all the snoring.  The partner will suffer just as much sleep deprivation if not more.  The health issues that it can lead to are:

•        Headaches

•        Daytime tiredness or even fatigue

•        High blood pressure

•        Risk of diabetes

•        Sleep Apnea or Apnoea (UK)

Also the sufferer and their partner will likely experience:

•        Irritability with others

•        Short temper

•        Lack of concentration and unable to focus

•        Napping unexpectantly when resting

The greatest health issue is the lack of quality sleep; this has a knock on affect to many other areas in daily life.  By not having a deep enough sleep the body will not recuperate sufficiently to cope with the demands expected upon it, the person will wake up groggy, be irritable with others and find they are nodding off when they are resting or on a work break.  By getting regular quality sleep the body will be much more alert, think clearly, feel more positive and feel much healthier.

Relationships

It’s not just health matters that are of a concern, it also has a major influence on relationships and can be quite devastating if left untreated.  It is no wonder that’s the case when the noise can be equivalent to using a vacuum cleaner, but for many, that will be the beginning of a stilted and awkward relationship with minor niggles escalating to major arguments and start getting very fractious with each other over the smallest of problems.  In some cases the strain is too much and a breakup then ensues. 

If the person who is snoring is ignoring the problem then the first decision that is made by one of the couples is to start sleeping apart.  While that ensures that at least someone will start to get some decent sleep the consequence will be loss of intimacy and the closeness that a relationship thrives on.  Couples will become distant with each other with a gradual decline to a benign acceptance rather than a loving, supporting partnership.

What to do?

Seek out as much information as you can and get an idea on what is causing your snoring and try to deal with it, your partner will usually be very supportive if you are openly accepting that you have a problem and you are trying to overcome it.  At the very least try to do something, try some mouth and throat exercises, an anti-snore pillow or the nasal strips, what have you got to lose and what if it actually works, a peaceful night for everyone.

If you are really concerned or need help or just need extra information then make an appointment to see your doctor or a sleep specialist.