Dealing with Snoring
It seems that many US couples are waking up to the fact that sharing a bedroom with a snoring partner seriously disrupts their sleep. The BBC is reporting that more and more American couples are building extra master bedroom suites or sleeping in extra rooms in hopes of getting a better night sleep. Builders euphemistically refer to these extra bedrooms as "flex" suites to avoid embarrassing their clients.
It is also being reported that those who sleep (or in many cases don't sleep) with a snorer lose up to 2 hours of sleep a night. Now that is enough to make me move to the couch.
If you share a bed with a snorer and hope to continue to do so, here are a few tips to decrease the snoring.
- Tape a tennis ball onto the pajama top of the snorer. This will hopefully encourage side sleeping, instead of back sleeping which promotes snoring.
- Folks prone to snoring should avoid drinking alcohol close to bedtime since it can increase snoring.
- Snorers should avoid drinking milk and eating milk products before bed since they can increase mucus production and mucus can increase snoring. On the other hand, if you sleep with snorer you should drink a cup of warm milk since it does help induce sleep.
- A lot of people are allergic to animal dander, so have your pet sleep somewhere other than you bedroom and see if that decreases the snoring.
- Losing weight can significantly reduce the severity of snoring. This is not to say that all snorers are overweight. Excess weight on the neck can decrease the air opening of the throat, which increases the chances of snoring.
- Earplugs!!!! I have heard of many marriages being saved by earplugs. Didn't Mer buy some earplugs for McDreamy because she is a big time snorer? I believe she did.
If you have a technique for dealing with snoring that I didn't mention, please share it in the comments section. You could help save a relationship.
