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When is Snoring Dangerous to your Health?

man snoring in bedSnoring is one of those annoying conditions that you think you can't help, but in many cases, you can. If you can identify the cause of your snoring and address that, then the snoring should lessen or stop. This is a crucial thing to keep in mind because snoring can be dangerous to your overall health.

In this blog, the sleep apnea specialist at eos dental sleep will explain how snoring can be dangerous to your overall health.

Why Do People Snore?

Snoring can be caused due to many factors. Snoring is the resulting sound that occurs due to obstructed air movement during breathing while you are asleep. In some cases, the sound may be soft, but in other cases, it can be loud and unpleasant. Snoring while you sleep may be an indication of a far more serious condition known as obstructive sleep apnea.

Why Is Snoring Dangerous?

Snoring itself can be annoying but what makes it really dangerous is that it can turn into full-blown sleep apnea, which prevents you from breathing. What's worse is that these sessions of not breathing and waking up can repeat several times per hour all night long. Even if you don't have sleep apnea, when your snoring gets so loud that you wake yourself up, the effects of that are tremendous.

Not only are you dealing with loss of oxygen and sleep, but there's also a whole roster full of additional side effects such as:

  • High blood pressure
  • Increased cardiovascular disease risk
  • Increased sleepiness
  • Irritability and moodiness
  • Brain fog or an inability to concentrate on what you're doing
  • Weight gain (from both comfort eating to deal with the stress you can no longer handle because you're not sleeping well, and from hormonal changes that can happen when you lose a lot of sleep)

How Can I Treat Snoring?

You have to find out what's exactly causing your snoring to be able to determine an effective treatment plan. If you're constantly congested, you've got to find out why -- is it a chronic sinus infection, or maybe an allergy to dust or mold in your room?

Chances are the cause of the snoring will not be completely obvious, or you could have more than one cause. Your best bet is to contact a sleep apnea specialist to undergo a sleep evaluation. These can be done in a clinic or at home in some cases, and your test results can show whether you're dealing with plain snoring or sleep apnea. Once you have those results, you can undergo an exam with the sleep apnea specialist to pinpoint the exact cause.

Where can I find Snoring Treatment?

At eos dental sleep our goal is to help you achieve quiet, restful sleep in order to improve your overall health and the quality of your life. We specialize in Oral Appliance Therapy (OAT) for the treatment of snoring and sleep apnea.

Dr. Marc Levin is specially-trained in treating sleep apnea and its symptoms. Schedule a consultation with eos dental sleep and get the restful night’s sleep that you deserve!