What is Snoring?

Snoring is an important problem which reduces a person's sleep and, accordingly, quality of life. Snoring is noticed by the family, not the patient himself, and the sleep quality of the family is affected at least as much as the person. Snoring also causes psychological distress due to reservations such as one might be ridiculed for snoring if they sleep in a friend's house. 

Causes of Snoring

• Being overweight
• Alcohol use
• Using muscle relaxants
• Strenuous physical activity
• Sleeping position
• Curvature of the nose

Who Experiences Snoring?

Snoring is more common in men than women. This is due to the fact that lubrication occurs in the lower regions in women and in the upper regions in men. 

Snoring is more common in people over 35 and 50 years old and overweight.

How Is Snoring Treated?

Snoring and apnea treatment varies from person to person. For this reason, the cause of snoring should be determined before starting the snoring treatment. Snoring is mostly treated with surgical interventions such as tonsil and adenoid removal performed by ENT doctors, radiofrequency-like methods and oral apparatus applied by dentists. 

Radiofrequency application to the soft palate is the most prominent snoring treatment method recently. Radiofrequency is an outpatient method. Therefore, returning to daily life is quick and painless. 

What is Sleep Apnea?

In snoring, there is an inconvenience caused by the person to the environment: Apart from this, it does not harm the health of the person, except that it reduces the sleep quality of the person and creates a social problem. However, sleep apnea due to snoring is a disease that needs to be treated.

Sleep apnea means that breathing stops for more than 10 seconds during sleep. Interruption of breathing during sleep can lead to consequences such as poor quality sleep, heart rhythm disorders, high blood pressure, paralysis or sudden death at night. 

Causes of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is generally encountered in people who are overweight and have large tonsils and adenoids. The cause of sleep apnea is the relaxation of the muscles in the throat to the extent that it interferes with breathing.

Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

• Snoring is 3 to 4 times louder
• Urinating frequently
• Restlessness in sleep
• Fluttering with distressed body during sleep
• Respiratory arrest

How is Sleep Apnea Diagnosed?

Patients with snoring problems are first tested for sleep apnea. For this test, called polysomnography, patients must stay in a sleeping room for one night. Only snoring treatment is applied to patients who are not diagnosed with sleep apnea