In the medical language, snoring is called ronopathy. This is a pathological condition that has several degrees of severity. As a rule, complaints of constant snoring come from men, but often women and even children suffer from it. This condition significantly reduces the quality of life, both of the patient himself and his loved ones.
What is snoring?
Most people do not consider it a disease and are in no hurry to seek medical help. Contrary to popular belief, snoring is a pathology in which the process of breathing in a dream is very noisy. This disease is not physiological, healthy people do not suffer from it.
Loud unpleasant sounds during breathing occur due to involuntary relaxation of the structures of the nose and mouth. Under the influence of various factors, soft tissues begin to vibrate, due to which annoying noise appears. As a rule, snoring occurs on inspiration. In some cases, it accompanies the process of exhaling air.
Most people do not hear their own snoring, but you need to pay attention to the presence of the following concomitant symptoms:
- headache;
- restless and intermittent night sleep;
- lethargy and apathy in the daytime;
- dyspnea;
- difficulty in nasal breathing;
- feeling of weakness in the morning.
If these conditions are regular, you should consult a doctor. He will conduct diagnostic measures and confirm or exclude the presence of snoring. The reason for its occurrence must be clarified, since it can be a consequence of not only an improperly organized process of night rest, but also the development of serious diseases.
There are several degrees of severity of ronchopathy:
- Easy. It is characterized by a rare occurrence of snoring, the cause of which is the pose - lying on your back. As a rule, people do not seek medical help, because the quality of their life does not suffer at all - after waking up they are full of strength, and high working capacity is maintained throughout the day.
- Medium. The cause of snoring in this case is a pathological process. Often it is accompanied by short-term respiratory arrest in a dream. After awakening, a person does not feel rested; he needs a certain amount of time to normalize his condition. Moreover, the quality of life is deteriorating not only in him, but also in close people.
- Heavy. The cause of snoring is also a pathology. Respiratory arrest in a dream is regular, a person constantly wakes up at night from choking. The volume of annoying sounds reaches a maximum, which becomes unbearable for others. The patient is not able to perform his usual activities, he constantly wants to sleep and can fall asleep anywhere and under any circumstances (at the wheel, during meals, etc.).
It is important to understand that treatment should not be delayed. The causes of snoring and respiratory arrest are different, but ignoring them can endanger the patient's life. With the regular appearance of loud sounds, you need to contact the ENT specialist.
Causes
Sleep snoring in men and women, as a rule, is a consequence of diseases in which the upper respiratory tract is affected. It also occurs in the elderly, in which muscle tone decreases during natural age-related changes. In addition, anatomical features of the nasopharynx are a common cause of snoring in women and men. Due to them, the passages and the respiratory throat partially overlap.
Causes of snoring in a dream can also be:
- Diseases of the cardiovascular system.
- Polyps in the nose.
- Adenoiditis
- Tonsillitis and pharyngitis of a chronic nature.
- High blood pressure.
- Smoking.
- Regular use of alcohol-containing drinks.
- Overweight.
- Injuries resulting in a bent nasal septum.
Not always the cause of snoring in men and women is any pathology. Noise in the breathing process may occur if a person has a cold, overwork, has an allergic rhinitis, or takes medications, one of the side effects of which is dryness or irritation of the nasopharynx. But then snoring is a short-term condition and disappears simultaneously with the elimination of the above factors. If it is regular, you should consult a doctor. He will find out the causes of snoring, and prescribe treatment in accordance with the research results.
Diagnostics
If complaints are regularly received from loved ones, and the patient feels tired and powerless during the day, he needs to make an appointment with the ENT specialist. During the consultation, the doctor will ask questions regarding the patient’s health status, examine him for anatomical changes, and then draw up a referral for examination.
The main methods for diagnosing snoring are as follows:
- Polysomnography. This is a study in which the degree of functioning of all body systems during sleep is assessed. Thanks to polysomnography, the doctor can determine the true cause of snoring in women and men and make the most appropriate treatment regimen. During the study, the patient sleeps in a comfortable bed.
- Electroencephalography. In the process of its implementation, the doctor assesses the degree of electrical activity of the brain, which allows timely detection of any of its pathologies at an early stage. In addition, using this method, you can study the dynamics during treatment, as well as make adjustments to the treatment regimen. If abnormalities are found, the patient is further observed by a neurologist.
- Laryngoscopy This study, during which the state of the larynx is assessed, and various pathologies are identified. It can be carried out using either special mirrors or a flexible laryngoscope - a tube that is inserted through the nasal passages. If a pathology is detected, the treatment plan is made by an ENT doctor.
- Rhinoscopy This diagnostic method involves examining the nasal cavities using special mirrors. It is used to detect ENT diseases, since most of them are the cause of snoring. Treatment in men and women in identifying diseases is prescribed by an otorhinolaryngologist.
- CT scan. With its help, you can establish the causes of snoring, as well as to understand whether it is accompanied by respiratory arrest in a dream.
- Active pneumomanometry. This is a method in which the respiratory function of the nose is evaluated.
The doctor may prescribe several studies, because snoring can be the result of many disorders.
Drug treatment
If the patient suffers from a pathological condition for less than a year, and in the process of carrying out diagnostic measures no serious diseases were detected, the doctor recommends that he take the following local medicines:
- antiseptic;
- tonic;
- anti-inflammatory.
They are available in the form of sprays, tablets and lozenges.
Medications are ineffective against patients suffering from snoring for a long time, as well as those whose sleep is accompanied by episodes of obstructive apnea.
Sipap therapy
Regardless of the reasons, the treatment of snoring in women and men, whose breathing periodically stops in a dream, implies this method. Sipap therapy is a method developed relatively recently. It is based on maintaining a constant positive pressure in the airways. This is currently the only method that can help people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.
Its essence is as follows: before going to bed, a person puts on a special mask on his face, connected to the device with a flexible tube. After switching on, the device begins to supply air with constant pressure, preventing the narrowing of the airways. As a result, the normal functioning of the body systems is not disturbed, and the patient receives a good rest at night, so that throughout the next day a high level of performance remains.
Proper sleep organization
Most often, snoring occurs when a person is sleeping on his back. This is due to the fact that in this position there is sagging soft tissues, and the lowering of the tongue creates an additional barrier to the incoming air.
The most physiological and beneficial for health is a dream on one side with legs slightly bent at the knees. In order to get rid of the habit of sleeping on their backs, doctors recommend stitching a pouch on pajamas in the lumbar region in which you need to put something, for example, a tennis ball. As a result, a person will have to sleep on his side only during the night, and in a few days this will become a new good habit.
In addition, it is necessary to regularly air the room. It is desirable that the room temperature does not exceed +22 ° C.
Gymnastics to normalize muscle tone
In order to get rid of snoring that arose against the background of natural age-related changes, it is necessary to maximally (as far as possible) stick out the tongue 30-50 times twice a day. This exercise is useful for both young people and children, it is a prevention of weakening the tone of the pharynx, soft palate and tongue.
Surgical treatment
Based on the research results, the doctor chooses the tactics of surgical intervention. For example, if the cause of snoring is the curvature of the nasal septum, septoplasty is performed, in the case of polyps, laser removal is practiced, and with enlarged tonsils, tonsillectomy, etc.
If not treated
In all cases, snoring disrupts the normal sleep process, even if it is not accompanied by short-term episodes of apnea. The body loses proper rest at night, due to which the person feels overwhelmed during the day, it is difficult for him to switch to an active state.
In addition, snoring is a trigger for the development of the following pathologies:
- high blood pressure;
- heart rhythm disturbances;
- a stroke;
- myocardial infarction;
- impotence in men.
Also, with a narrowing of the airways, the limbs and internal organs suffer from a lack of blood, while the heart is overloaded with it.
Snoring in children
Noisy breathing in a newborn baby is, as a rule, a physiological condition that goes away on its own as it grows older. In order to exclude diseases, in any case, consult a doctor.
The following conditions and pathologies can be the causes of snoring in an older child:
- enlarged nasopharyngeal tonsils;
- rhinitis;
- allergic reaction;
- anomalies in the structure of ENT organs;
- curved nasal septum;
- apnea;
- overweight;
- thyroid disease.
In addition, a high pillow may be the cause of snoring in a child in a dream. It is recommended to exchange it for an orthopedic special product.
Preventative measures
In order to prevent or reduce the incidence of snoring, you must:
- Constantly monitor body weight. If you are overweight, gradually reduce it by at least 5 kg per year.
- Stop smoking and drinking alcohol immediately before bedtime.
- Stop taking drugs that reduce muscle tone of the oropharynx, for example, antidepressants.
- Increase the intensity of physical activity.
- Exercise regularly to strengthen muscles (protruding tongue).
Finally
Contrary to popular belief, snoring is a pathological condition. If noise in the process of breathing in a dream occurs regularly, it is necessary to consult an otorhinolaryngologist who will conduct an examination and send for a thorough examination. According to its results, the patient will be prescribed either conservative treatment or surgery.