Snoring Misconceptions

I’ve seen a lot of patients in the past 10 years and heard just about every misconception about snoring that can make people reluctant to seek treatment. I plan to cover a variety of misconceptions and the truth behind them. One of them might strike a chord with you and make you rethink that it's possible to solve your snoring problem (or someone you love).

This week:
Snoring doesn’t affect me, it just bothers my bedmate.

Another way to say to say this is you personally don’t care enough about your snoring to fix it. The short answer is – you should. Snoring is a leading cause of resentment in marriages. This isn’t all that surprising when you learn that people who share a bed with a snorer lose about an hour of sleep per night. Ultimately, 23% of couples sleep in separate rooms on a regular or even daily basis . . . not a great solution to a problem that can often be easily treated.

If consideration for your bed partner isn’t enough to motivate you to seek treatment, do it for your own health. And I’m not referring to a few sore ribs from the nightly elbow jabs. Hormone imbalance, weight gain, Type II diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease have all been linked to unrestful sleep. So don’t take it lightly. It’s in your best interest to find out your treatment options.

Next week we look at "Simple Fixes" and if they actually work.