Snoring is common. Men are especially susceptible to it, but as women age, they are more likely to snore as well, especially after menopause.
Considering how common it is, perhaps it’s no surprise that people often ignore snoring. They think that it’s normal, that it’s no big deal, and that, anyway, there’s no good remedy. However, there are many reasons why you shouldn’t ignore your snoring. Instead, you should seek help with snoring treatment now to help protect your health.
Snoring Itself Is Dangerous
Most people think that snoring is just a nuisance. However, the truth is that snoring can be dangerous. Here’s why: the sound of snoring comes from vibrations in the airway, including the throat and chest. These vibrations can cause trauma to your body. Especially vulnerable are your blood vessels, which can develop tiny injuries. These injuries turn into scars, which can facilitate the accumulation of fat and debris, leading to clogged arteries.
Then the snoring can actually damage the clogs in the blood vessels, making them more likely to break off and travel to the heart or brain, causing an ischemic stroke or heart attack.
Snoring has been independently associated with coronary artery disease, which can increase the risk of these conditions.
Snoring Could Be Linked to Sleep Apnea
Another reason not to ignore snoring is that it could be your only warning sign that you have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a condition in which your breathing stops periodically at night, forcing your brain to awaken briefly to restore breathing.
Sleep apnea has also been linked to heart problems and stroke risk, but it’s an even more serious problem, connected to dementia, cancer, mood disorders, and more serious health conditions.
Snoring is one of the most visible symptoms of sleep apnea, since many people with the condition don’t realize they’re waking up and not sleeping properly until a sleeping partner tells them about snoring.
Snoring Affects Your Entire Family
Some people think that snoring doesn’t need to be addressed, because they’re the only one who is affected, but this is far from the truth. Even if we neglect the risk that you’re putting your family under because you are ignoring a serious health risk, snoring can impact everyone in the home.
First, snoring will impact your sleeping partner. People who share a bed with a snorer can miss out on an hour or more of sleep every night. This leads to some angry discussions that everyone in the house has to endure, discussions that can lead to violence.
And snoring makes it more likely that you will doze off behind the wheel. That means that if you ignore snoring, you are creating risk for everyone who rides in the car with you. You wouldn’t let your kids ride in the car without seatbelts, and you wouldn’t drive them around when you’re drunk. But drowsy driving can be as dangerous as drunk driving, and that’s what you’re doing when you ignore snoring.
Snoring Is Treatable
Most importantly, you need to understand that there is a solution. Snoring isn’t something you have to accept. Nor will you have to get surgery or hook up to an annoying machine at night. Instead, you can get effective, comfortable, snoring treatment to protect you and everyone in your home.
That’s more than one reason why you’ll be sleeping better at night thanks to snoring treatment from Contemporary Dentistry in Rochester, NY. To learn more about your snoring treatment options, please call (585) 244-3337 today for an appointment with one of our sleep dentists.
