Some people think you should be able to control your snoring.   They think that the snorer should make a conscious effort, or use will power, or not be weak, or be a man,  or suck it up, or belly up to the bar (belly up to the bar?),  or whatever, and just stop snoring.

The thing is, people who snore don’t know they’re snoring.   Of if they do, they become aware of it as they are waking up.  So telling a person to just will his snoring away is kind of like someone willing their hair not to grow (no offense to those of you that are hair impaired), or their eyes not to water, or their bladder not to …. well, you get it.

On this blog we discuss many  causes for snoring, and, hopefully, many ways to stop snoring naturally.   However the subject of sleep apnea keeps popping up.     A physician can (and should) diagnose sleep apnea, and then proper medical treatment should be implemented.

Simply put, a person with sleep apnea will, when sleeping, stop breathing for intervals of ten seconds or longer.  Then, with the body out of breath, the apnea sufferer gasps for air.  —–  Have you ever held your breath and counted to ten to get rid of the hiccups?  Try exhaling and then holding your breath and counting to ten.  When you finally breathe, your breathing does not return normally.  Oh, no, no, no.  You gasp and gulp and snort big time! —–  So does the apnea victim.  When his breathing jump starts, its with gasps and gulps and snorts   —-  only to return to a snore until the next apnea or period of non breathing.

Want to know what is really sad about this?  If you ask the spouse of a sleep apnea sufferer, they’ll  tell you the snoring is almost a welcome relief,  because it is so scary when their loved one stops breathing!

Treatment involves clearing the breathing passageways and then forcing air through them, usually with a machine that is much like a ventilator.  This machine is called a CPAP (see glossary), and  requires the user to wear a breathing mask (much like that mask that pops down on your airplane when you are about to crash).    The air is pumped through a hose up into the mask, forcing the patient to breath, etc. etc.

Since this makes breathing pretty much effortless,  the periods of not breathing, ( hopefully)  go away.  And the resulting gasps, snorts and churtles, and the snoring that follows,  go away, too.

Besides the medical complications, a person with sleep apnea is constantly tired, even exhausted.  Driving while in this condition is as dangerous as drunk driving.  And when the body is continually denied sleep, it will react by demanding sleep no matter the time of day.  This creates the drowsiness that slows reflexes, both physically and mentally.

If you believe you  have sleep apnea, you should be diagnosed and treated by a physician.    That is the proper way to stop snoring with this ailment.