Been kept up all night? If your partner is keeping you awake with their nocturnal nasal gymnastics, you’re not alone. Estimates suggest anything from one third to half of Brits snore. It can affect people of all ages, so if you’ve got kids, don’t be surprised if you hear them too.
But what causes snoring? As sufferers breathe in and out while they are sleeping, the noise occurs by vibration when air whizzes past the soft tissues in the nose, throat or mouth. And it can vary from person to person, so one may snore quietly while another could sound like a train ratting through your bedroom.
While snoring can be seen as amusing (although not that funny if you are kept awake by it), it can impact on the health of some people. Tiredness and poor concentration are common complaints. Then there’s obstructive sleep apnoea, a serious condition related to snoring, where a sufferer’s airways can become blocked through the night and can lead to them gasping or choking.
Snorers can also suffer from anxiety, with them worrying about what others might think of their condition, including their partners – and that can lead to friction in a relationship.