Snoring Treatment in San Francisco, CA

What is Snoring? 

Snoring is the sound you make when your breathing is blocked while you are asleep. It is very common and an estimated 45 percent of adults snore occasionally, while 25 percent snore regularly. Snoring is more common in men, though many women snore. It appears to run in families and becomes more common as you get older.

California Sinus Centers diagnoses sleep apnea and snoring and determines a solution to allow patients to regain control of their lives and return to a fully-functional lifestyle. If you believe that snoring and apnea is disrupting your sleep, please view our ENT clinics in the San Francisco area and call or schedule your consultation online.

What Causes Snoring?

The snoring sound is caused by tissues at the top of your airway that strike each other and vibrate as you breathe.  It can sound like a hoarse or harsh noise when the air flows through.

Can Snoring Cause Other Problems?

The severity of snoring can have a wide range. Sometimes snoring can come and go, while other times it can be a sign of a more serious issue, such as sleep apnea. If snoring is disrupting your quality of life, you can seek professional help.

Snoring may cause:

• Frequent awakenings at night
• Daytime sleepiness
• Disrupt your bed partner’s sleep
• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

If you have any of the following symptoms, you may want to talk to your ENT to be evaluated for sleep apnea. OSA often is characterized by loud snoring followed by periods of silence when breathing stops or nearly stops.

Other signs of sleep apnea may include:

• Witnessed breathing pauses during sleep
• Breathing pauses repeated many times during the night.
• Excessive daytime sleepiness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Morning headaches
• Sore throat upon awakening
• Restless sleep
• Gasping or choking at night
• High blood pressure
• Chest pain at night
• Snoring is so loud it’s disrupting your partner’s sleep
• Poor attention span, behavioral issues or poor performance in school may be seen in children

How is Snoring Diagnosed?

If you feel like you may have an issue with snoring, you can get answers.

Your ENT at California Sinus Centers may recommend:

• A few tests or imaging to examine your airway
• A sleep study to diagnose the significance of snoring
• An ear nose and throat specialist (otolaryngologist) to examine your throat and neck and the inside of your mouth to diagnose the cause of snoring

How Can You Reduce Snoring?

To reduce snoring your ENT likely will first recommend lifestyle changes, such as:

• Losing weight if you are overweight
• Cutting down or avoid alcohol and other sedatives at bedtime
• Avoiding sleeping flat on your back
• Using a medical device
• Treating nasal congestion
• Avoiding alcohol close to bedtime
• Talk about surgery

How is Snoring Treated?

If you have an issue with snoring as well as sleep apnea, your ENT may recommend one of the following:

• Oral appliances – this may include a dental mouthpieces to help align your jaw to help keep your air passage open, or other ways to optimize the appliance to help your airway.
• Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) – this approach involves wearing a mask over your nose or mouth while you sleep. The mask directs pressurized air from a small bedside pump to your airway to keep it open during sleep and is the most often used when treating snoring with OSA.
• Upper airway surgery – can help trim or tighten the excess tissues in your throat, move the upper and lower jaws forward to open your airway, control the movement of the tongue, or use radiofrequency tissue ablation to shrink obstructive tissue.