How To Stop Snoring
As you probably have discovered, snoring can lead to poor sleep for you and anyone else in the room. Poor sleep can lead to a whole slew of other symptoms: irritability, mood swings, lack of focus and productivity, depleted energy and even weight gain.
So why do we snore?
Physiologically, the most basic cause of snoring is when air cannot move freely through your nose and mouth while you sleep.
Here are some common reasons you may be snoring:
- You were born that way - deviated septum, nasal polyps, enlarged tonsils, having a low, thick soft palate can all contribute to airway blockage causing you to snore. As we age, the throat and tongue muscles tend to relax more while we sleep.
- Alcohol usage - while having a "nightcap" may sound like a great way to fall asleep faster, as a muscle relaxant, alcohol can cause the airways in your throat to loosen which can result in vibration when you breathe.
- Excess weight - when you gain weight, you gain weight everywhere and that includes the soft tissues in your throat. Carrying extra pounds or struggling with obesity can be the cause of snoring and more dangerously, obstructive sleep apnea.
- Allergens - dust mites and pet dander can accumulate on bedding and can cause irritation or reactions even if you aren't clinically allergic to these things. WebMD recommends putting your pillows in the air fluff cycle once every couple weeks and replacing them every six months to keep dust mites and allergens to a minimum.
- Sleep position and sleep posture - sleeping on your back or side in a position that causes your airway to be impeded can also cause snoring.
How to Stop Snoring
Consulting your ENT doctor to determine if you have a physical obstruction that could be causing you to snore can be a great first step if you have already eliminated weight and alcohol use as a potential cause.
Sleep position and sleep posture are probably the most common causes of restricted airways while you sleep. Not coincidentally, poor sleep posture can also cause stiff neck, neck pain, and back pain. The solution? Neck Hero neck support pillow!
No matter what your sleeping position – back sleeper, side sleeper or even stomach sleeper – EVERYONE needs proper neck support. Standard bed pillows are designed to lift your head but NOT to support your neck. When you correctly place Neck Hero under your neck, it gently supports the curvature in your neck allowing air to flow through continuously which can reduce or eliminate snoring altogether. Our patented design also allows you to clip your Neck Hero directly to your favorite bed pillow to hold the neck support in place all night long.
Neck Hero can also be used alone for stomach sleepers or for maximum support of the curvature of your neck.
How much support do I need?
You only want to support the neck with enough firmness to comfortably fill the space between your neck and pillow/bed but not so much as to push your head forward and strain your neck and back.
The Neck Hero firmness you choose is more closely determined by the thickness of the pillow you currently use.
- If your primary pillow is flat but you are having neck and shoulder pain (side sleepers), you may want to try a Medium Neck Hero. If you are of medium/larger stature and this causes your neck to overextend then you may also need to increase the firmness of your primary pillow so that your spine aligns correctly.
- If your primary pillow is the fluffier or denser type then you will want to start with a Soft Neck Hero since you are only missing the support for your neck. If you add too much neck support on top of a firmer pillow, you can cause your neck to overextend and strain even more.
When using your Neck Hero by itself, we primarily consider stature - small/medium stature typically prefer a soft and medium/larger stature prefer a medium.
Very few people prefer the Firm in any case but we do offer it for those who have this need.
***Most customers find that the Medium or Soft is the most comfortable for neck support. Please read below to help determine your best fit!***
Where do I place the Neck Hero?
See pictures below for ideas. You simply lay down in your normal sleeping position, place the Neck Hero under the curvature of your neck and adjust it until you find the perfect position. Then clip it in place for all night neck support.
