Could Snoring be the Root Cause of Your Sore Throat Problem?!

Do you find yourself constantly waking up due to a sore throat? Perhaps, you must be thinking that you’re the only one who has to battle a cold regardless of the time of the year. Maybe, you put the blame on dry air or allergies. To tell you the truth, it could be your snoring habit at the core of all your throat problems, making you suck on those cough drops and sip cups and cups of hot tea every day!

How snoring and mouth breathing are interrelated?

There could be all sorts of reasons behind your constant breathing through your mouth. Sinus infection, turbinate swelling, deviated septum, and nasal polyps, can all be blamed. Many people breathe through their mouths naturally, without any particular reason. Most of the mouth-breathers are usually snorers too, as the air flowing through their mouths results in enhanced tissue vibration, in comparison to when it flows through the nose.

To better understand this phenomenon, it is important that we closely look at our soft palate. This is a muscular extension of our mouth’s roof and is responsible for the separation of the back of our mouth from the nasal passages. As it is simply attached to the sides, it normally hangs freely. Whenever we breathe through our nose, it comes forth in order to open up the airway, and while swallowing food, it moves backward for closing the nasal passage (ensuring that the liquids get forced down through the esophagus).

On the rear side of our soft palate, there’s a small extension known as the uvula. It aids the functions of our soft palate. The palate and uvula are typically the vibrating structures. It’s not uncommon for both of them to get swollen up after heavy snoring throughout the night. Many people experience a sort of gagging sensation first thing in the morning, which doesn’t subside until this swelling decreases a bit.

The connection between a sore throat and snoring

There could be two reasons why you may have a sore throat in the morning. The first one could be due to tissues’ vibration against the throat, all through the night. Such constant friction can be very irritating for our delicate issues. Furthermore, as we may be breathing through our mouths, the air may dry up our throat.

As there’s no swallowing involved, the mucous membranes get deprived of moisture and the constant airflow dries them out. In addition, as most homes already have a dry atmosphere due to constant cooling or heating, it’s only normal for you to develop a sore throat.

Snoring gets worse in case of a sore throat

As if it wasn’t enough to deal with a sore throat as a direct effect of snoring, a sore throat can actually worsen your snoring. It results in the creation of a vicious cycle that many people get trapped inside. Constant irritation caused to the tissues inside the windpipe results in their inflammation. Unfortunately, such inflammation results in worsening of the obstruction that’s causing the snoring in the first place. This fact is all the more true in the case of obese people and others who have narrow airways. Moreover, you should be all the more concerned if your snoring is caused due to obstructed sleep apnea. In this condition, the inflammation can turn quite ugly and assume a more dangerous shape. Many people face difficulties while swallowing food as its direct result, due to severe nerve damage.

Can mouthpieces work as a quick fix to this problem?

Having a sore throat is enough reason for you to not ignore the snoring problem. Even if you aren’t sharing your bedroom with anyone as of now, your snoring affects your health adversely in many different ways. Now, coming to the question whether a good quality anti-snoring mouthpiece will really be of any help in this situation, it may be difficult to believe, but it definitely can. An anti-snoring mouthpiece may be of major help as it holds the tongue or jaw in a forward position during one’s sleep, thereby preventing the development of a sore throat. By doing so, the soft tissues are prevented from falling back and vibrating, which also means that they don’t cause any friction against the throat, often the main cause of throat inflammation or soreness. What’s even better is that the obstruction that causes the snoring gets eliminated. Take a look at our in-depth reviews of SnoreRx and ZQuiet.

Please keep in mind that if you’re a regular mouth breather, you must select the mouthpiece that has an air hole on its front side. This will prevent complete closure of your mouth while you’re asleep, hence providing constant airflow to your lungs. Investment in a humidifier may also help if you constantly suffer from sore throat problem due to the quality of air inside your home.

Which product works best in this case?

Well, every individual has unique needs and mouth structure. Therefore there’s no single product that works for everyone. You can go through our website and compare different products (Good Morning Snore Solution, Zyppah) to find out the best one that meets your needs.