Snoring occurs when throat tissues relax and obstruct the airways. When you breathe, the sound of the air vibrates against the throat tissues--this is the noise referred to as snoring. Snoring can be annoying, but it can also be a sign of a more serious medical condition, according to the Mayo Clinic. There are several natural ways to curb snoring.
Weight Management
Carrying around extra weight can increase your risk of snoring, so weight management is one of the first natural remedies for snoring to discuss with your doctor. The ultimate cause of snoring is an obstruction of your throat that does not allow air to pass through freely. The heavier a person is, the larger the throat tissues are, according to the Mayo Clinic. Setting yourself up with a safe program for weight loss may help stop the hissing, buzzing and snorting noises that fall under the umbrella of snoring.
Open Airways
Opening your airways is a non-medicated solution to halt your snoring. There are several approaches to clearing the path for noiseless air. Turning onto your side to sleep keeps your tongue from blocking your windpipe. Some people wake their partners up to tell them to turn over; the Mayo Clinic even suggests hypnosis to remind snorers to change sleeping positions. Other ways to expand your airways include using nose strips to widen your nasal passages and taking a decongestant to relieve allergy symptoms that may impede your breathing.
Alcohol and sedative medications can lead to obstruction of your throat because they cause your throat tissues to relax, so avoid chemical relaxants for several hours before you go to bed to allow your airways to remain open.
Music
As unusual as it may sound, singing and playing a musical instrument called a didgeridoo might be natural ways in which you can stop your snoring. The Mayo Clinic explains that throat muscle control plays a role in snoring cessation. A 2006 issue of the "British Medical Journal" revealed that playing a didgeridoo, a type of wooden flute, improves muscle tone in the upper airways. Participants who played the instrument for about 30 minutes a day saw a decrease in sleep apnea episodes and snoring. In a similar fashion, prescribed singing in adults of a normal weight led to minimized snoring within three months.
