Snoring and sleep apnoea

Snoring is a very common nocturnal harassment, which usually doesn’t disturb so much the snorer himself (herself), but rather the partner sleeping aside. The snoring itself is not an illness, but more an annoyance of the environment. Several factors might cause or worsen the snoring:

• impaired nasal breathing

• pharyngeal obstruction

• thickening of the base of tongue

• laryngeal obstruction

• overweight

• alcohol

• smoking

For the treatment of your snoring problem a counselling concerning your everyday habits e.g. can be helpful, sometimes a surgical intervention might be needed.

If in addition to the symptomatic snoring you should observe periods of Atemaussetzern, fatigue during the day with involuntary Einschlafen, concentration problems and other symptoms like high blood pressure and crankiness you might be suffering from sleep apnoea. Should one or more of those symptoms occur you must see an ENT-specialist for further treatment.