Best Ways to Deal with Snoring in a Relationship

Listen to this article

There’s more than one way in which snoring affects your relationship. While most people are not aware that they themselves are snorers, there is no denying that the noise that occurs due to disruption of airflow annoys other people.

But that is not all, snoring is ruining your relationship in terms of sex also. Besides, advanced snoring and sleep disorders correlated with sexual dysfunction.

The importance of a good night’s sleep

Good sleep is as important as healthy eating & a fine exercise. However, not a lot of people pay attention to the effects of good sleep and only choose to take sleep when they are too fatigued and can’t go about the day any longer. 

However, maintaining a sleep cycle and sleeping for a recommended number of hours adds to our wellness and provides solutions to how to deal with snoring. Let us check how:

• It helps increase productivity and concentration by improving the brain function. This is because our analytical and problem-solving skills are more enhanced when we sleep well.
• It increases our physical strength. It is well known that mental health and physical health are interlinked. Therefore, our independent physical activities have more strength leading to an overall better physical performance.
• An uneven sleep cycle or less sleep exposes us to the risk of obesity. Weight gain is a common risk factor of poor sleep.
• Healthy sleep improves our immunity.
• Good sleep contributes towards a better metabolism and reduces the risk of health issues like increased sugar levels, diabetes etc.

Related Reading: How Quality Sleep Can Improve your Relationship

What causes snoring? 

The snoring problem is a common health issue, with almost 40% of adults facing it and it is often ignored by people. 

However, it is unattended, it can cause more severe issues and health concerns. Not just this, if someone snores loudly, whether it’s a snoring husband or a snoring wife, it can also affect the relationship.

To understand how to deal with snoring, the causes should be understood first. What are the causes of snoring? Why does snoring happen? Let’s find out some factors that lead to snoring:

• Seasonal allergies
• Blocked nasal passages due to sinus infection or cold
• Alcohol consumption
• Smoking
• Overweight
• Sleeping on the back
• Stress
• Pregnancy
• Obesity

4 types of snoring

To know Snoring is a sign of an unhealthy sleep pattern. The type of snores also helps decide the medical or health condition causing the same. To know how to deal with snoring, let us check out 4 types of snoring issues.

1. Nasal snoring

Nasal snoring happens due to blocked nostrils. In other words, nasal snoring happens because of the physical obstruction in the airway.

2. Mouth snoring

Mouth snoring can also happen due to blocked nasal passages and therefore, the snorer breathes through their mouth when they sleep. Other causes include enlarged tonsils or weak palatal tissue.

3. Tongue snoring

Tongue snorers can easily be recognized by high-pitched sounds during sleep. It happens when the tongue becomes too relaxed during sleep blocking the airway into the lungs.

4. Throat snoring or sleep apnea

Throat snoring is considered the loudest type of snoring and needing medical attention. During this condition, the person stops snoring a lot of times during sleep.

Throat Snoring and sleep apnea are both linked to serious medical problems such as hypertension, weight gain, increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and fatigue.

Related Reading: Stop Snoring to Save Your Relationship

How does snoring affecting your relationship

If you do not seek solutions for a snoring partner, these problems can quickly compound and affect the quality of your daily life as well as your marriage. 

If you sleep with a snorer, suppressed normal sexual functions such as low libido and erectile dysfunction, for example, can have a huge effect on how you relate to your partner.

• Both partners in the relationship are sleep deprived, 
• Lack of concentration during the day 
• Increased fatigue. 
• The reduced sexual activity also takes its toll on the grease that keeps a marriage going
• It can also lead to partners sleeping in different rooms
• Constant arguments as of lack of sleep
• Resentment between partners 

Related Reading: Tips to Enjoy a Night’s Sleep Without Crossing Your Partner

Health effects of a snoring partner

How does snoring affect your partner?

Snoring is associated with various health risks and snoring effects on a partner can be severe if not treated on time.

• People suffering from extreme snoring or snoring for prolonged periods of time can lead to anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
• It causes noise-induced hearing loss.
• It restricts memory & concentration
• It increased the risk of heart-related diseases
• Sleep apnea leads to Gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD, which is esophageal burning and heartburn.

But what should you do to help the situation and (probably) save your marriage? How to deal with snoring?

Related Reading:  Ways to Help Your Snoring Spouse

Tips for preventing snoring

To solve the snoring problem the first thing to do is to identify the reason behind snoring. People snore when obstructions occur in their airflow passage. There can be many reasons behind the occurrence of these obstructions, like throat tissues becoming heavier due to weight gain, muscle relaxation after drugs and alcohol, defective jawline or air passage, etc.

1. Special pillows

People snore the loudest when they sleep on their backs. The first solution to combating your partner’s snoring problem is preventing them from sleeping on their backs. If they sleep on their sides they are unlikely to snore or at least they won’t snore as loud as they normally do.

A special body pillow can be used to prevent your partner from sleeping on their back. They are comfortable yet they are effective.

A neck pillow can also be effective for chronic snorers. It adjusts the head in a way that the airflow passage remains wide open when a person sleeps.

2. Nasal spray or nasal strip

Nasal strips and sprays unclog the airflow passage and allow adequate amounts of air to pass through the mouth and the nose into the lungs. These strips and sprays are affordable and are really effective for mild to moderate snorers.

3. Avoid alcohol and drugs

Consuming alcohol and other drugs has a relaxing effect on the muscles of the body. The throat muscles also tend to get relaxed and don’t remain as firm as they usually do. This somewhat constricts the nasal passage and therefore, sleeping after consuming these things often results in snoring.

4. Lose weight

Among all solutions, this is probably the hardest but effective solution for how to deal with snoring! 

Getting your partner to lose weight can be extremely challenging. If you have a snoring wife, then this move is fraught with danger. You have to tell her that not only does she snore loudly, but she also has to lose weight! 

And if you have a snoring husband then this solution is almost impossible for you. There is nothing more difficult than getting your husband to go to the gym!

Check out the video below to understand how weight and sleep apnea are related and how you can fix the issue.

5. Consult a doctor

If nothing seems to reduce your partner’s snoring then, you should consult the doctor. Snoring can be caused by sleep apnea. 

Apnea is a serious medical condition that can lead to other severe health complications like hypertension, stroke and other cardiovascular problems. It requires proper medical treatment.

Well if your partner’s anatomical condition is such that they can never get rid of their snoring habits, then you can try putting earplugs, or listen to white noise while sleeping. That might help ignore the snoring sounds. 

If your spouse snores way too loudly for all of those things to work, you can consider sleeping in different rooms. There is no point sleeping together in a room when one partner does not get to sleep.

Related Reading: Tips on How to Maintain a Healthy Mind and Marriage

Help with snoring in marriage: How to deal with snoring?

How to fix loud snoring? How to cope with your partner’s snoring?

In most cases, a snoring partner may not be aware that they are indeed snorers. 

Many couples, as a solution for this problem, choose to sleep in separate bedrooms. Though it’s a good temporary fix but in the long run couples’ sex lives suffer due to this practice and they start losing intimacy in their marriage.  

For understanding how to deal with snoring, the key to fixing things is to find the right way to talk about it with your spouse in order to take the right steps toward reducing and managing the disorder.

Here are a few tips and steps for how to deal with snoring:

Check out these partner snoring solutions:

1. The first solution to how to stop someone from snoring, the non-snoring partner should raise the issue first and point it  out as a serious problem that needs to be resolved.

The most important thing about this step is to be compassionate and positive in the way you introduce the issue to avoid making your partner angry or feel awful about his/her problem.

2. As partners, try to agree on seeking medical help as another tip to stop snoring. You can start by visiting a sleep clinic or booking an appointment with a sleep therapist to guide you in the right direction.

3. If you are the non-snoring partner, one of the ways to help a snoring partner is to not forget to express your clear appreciation of your partner’s efforts to take steps towards resolving the problem.

4. One of the important partner snoring solutions is to take steps towards improving the quality of your sleep. If you are a couple with no young children or not so much to monitor during sleep, you can try using a good set of earplugs for sleeping. 

They can help you block out loud noises such as heavy snoring and even the barking of your neighbor’s dog.

5. If your partner is a light snorer, you can consider getting a white noise machine for your bedroom. It will even out the snores and allow you to get better quality sleep.

Related Reading: What Are the Health Benefits of a Happy Marriage

Takeaway

According to Dr. Barton Goldsmith, Ph.D., a psychotherapist, sleeping closer to your partner is one of the best ways to have a better relationship.

While one of the most commonly reported reactions to snoring in a marriage is sleeping in separate bedrooms, it is strongly recommended that you remain compassionate and find ways of staying together and working on a solution as a unit.