How to Stop Snoring
In order, from the free things that work to the ones you buy. Most people do this backwards, which is why they conclude nothing helps.
Most people start by buying something. That is the wrong end, and it is why the drawer of abandoned sleep products is such a common object.
Here is the order that works.
Step 0: rule out the thing no product treats
Before anything else. If any of these apply, stop and get assessed rather than shopping:
- Someone has seen you stop breathing, gasp or choke in your sleep
- You wake with headaches most mornings
- You wake unrefreshed regardless of hours in bed
- You are heavily sleepy during the day, especially while driving
- Your blood pressure is difficult to control
That is obstructive sleep apnea, no over-the-counter product treats it, and quietening the noise removes the warning sign. What separates them · risk check.
Step 1: find out where your airway narrows
Ninety seconds, free, and it decides everything after it.
Cheek-pull test — pull the skin beside one nostril outward and breathe in. Easier means nasal valve narrowing.
Nose test — breathe through your nose only, mouth closed, three minutes sitting and three lying flat. Effortful means your nose is the problem.
Jaw test — imitate your snore, push your lower jaw forward, try again. Quieter means tongue base.
Dry mouth on waking — means your mouth is falling open.
Run the full decision tree, or the remedy finder which routes you directly.
Step 2: the free things, for a fortnight
These resolve a great deal of snoring and cost nothing. Do them before buying anything.
Sleep on your side. The single highest-yield free intervention. A tennis ball sewn into the back of a sleep shirt is the traditional version. How to do it properly
Move your last drink three to four hours earlier. Timing matters more than quantity — two drinks at 11pm cost you more than three at 7pm. Work out your cutoff
Treat any nasal congestion. Saline rinsing, and a steroid nasal spray used consistently for two weeks. Most people quit on day three and never learn it works. The routes
Raise the head of the bed four to six inches. Blocks under the legs, not extra pillows.
Review sedating medication with a pharmacist. Which drugs
Record a week so you know your baseline. How
Step 3: match a remedy to your mechanism
Only now, and only the one that fits what you found in step 1.
Nasal valve narrowing → a nasal strip widens exactly that. The guide · TitanAir
Mouth falling open, nose clear → mouth tape. The guide · Titan's bamboo silk tape · who should not use it
Both → open the nose first, then the mouth. The order is not optional. Sold as a pair · how to run it
Tongue base → a mandibular advancement device, which has the best evidence of anything purchasable. Test with a cheap adjustable one first. Compared
Palatal → throat and tongue exercises. Free, about three months, real trial evidence. The exercises
All devices compared · what each will cost you
Step 4: give it a week, recorded
Snoring varies enormously night to night. One quiet night proves nothing.
Change one thing at a time for a week each, recorded, noting alcohol and congestion alongside. Running four changes at once guarantees you will not know which worked.
Step 5: escalate properly
If steps 2 and 3 have not resolved it, the options are medical rather than retail.
An ENT assessment for structural narrowing — septum, valve, turbinates, polyps. When surgery is worth considering · the operations compared
A dentist experienced in sleep medicine for a custom oral appliance.
A sleep study, if you have not had one and anything in step 0 is now looking more likely.
What not to do
Do not buy before diagnosing. The cheapest remedy that does not match your mechanism is the most expensive thing on the list.
Do not use alcohol as a sleep aid. It makes snoring worse.
Do not tape your mouth if your nose is unreliable. The one genuinely unsafe move in this category. Why
Do not quietly accept it for a decade. If it is disturbing someone else's sleep, that is a health effect landing on another person. What it costs them