You’ve tried everything short of holding your eyelids up with toothpicks, but for some reason, you can’t stop falling asleep at work. When your boss notices and asks you whether or not something is causing you to be overly tired, you don’t know what to say. But when a sympathetic co-worker suggests that maybe your snoring (which he can hear from all the way across the office) is affecting your sleep, something clicks into place.
Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) is just one of the many side effects of snoring, and it can pose more dangerous problems than falling asleep at work. Here’s how snoring affects your sleep and even your health.
Does snoring affect sleep quality?
Yes, unfortunately, snoring can have a big effect on your sleep quality and your health. Snoring can cause disrupted sleep patterns that leave you feeling sleepy/tired during the day. This feeling forces you to cope with low energy levels and can lead to EDS.
Not only that, but there are additional snoring health risks that go beyond falling asleep at work such as heart diseases, diabetes, and strokes. Additionally, you may not be the only one falling asleep at your desk. If your partner is woken up by your snoring, they may be dealing with sleep-related health issues, too.
What causes snoring while sleeping?
While you’re sleeping, your breath can make your relaxed throat muscles vibrate which in turn causes the sound of snoring. The increasing restriction to your upper airway determines how loud your snoring will be (a completely collapsed airway causes sleep apnea).
There are also external reasons for snoring and addressing these reasons will do more to keep you from falling asleep at work than the billions of cups of coffee you’ve been drinking. These include:
- Sleep disorders
- Sleeping on your back
- Your mouth’s anatomy such as extra throat tissue or an elongated uvula
- Alcohol consumption, which can relax your throat muscles
If you struggle with both sinus problems and snoring, additional factors such as sudden weather changes, allergies, humidity, and sinus obstructions can make your snoring worse.
What can I do to stop snoring at night?
Chances are that if you asked your coworkers for advice on how to stop falling asleep at work due to snoring while sleeping at night, they’d all give you different answers. You’ll have to figure out which of the following snoring treatments and snoring home remedies work for you:
- Limiting your consumption of alcohol and tobacco products
- Sleeping on your side
- Using a mandibular repositioning device
- Losing weight
- OTC (over the counter) medication
- Treating sinus issues
Many patients turn to Kaplan Sinus Relief for effective balloon sinuplasty treatment when sinus issues and the snoring they cause require more than an OTC solution. Balloon sinuplasty is performed by inserting and inflating a small balloon inside your blocked sinus cavities, opening the sinuses and restoring your nighttime breathing back to normal.
Stop Falling Asleep at Work with Balloon Sinuplasty
Balloon sinuplasty is an in-office procedure which usually takes less than 30 minutes and requires minimal recovery time and post-op follow ups. If you’re ready to talk to a sinus doctor about putting your snoring to bed so that you can stop falling asleep at work, then schedule an appointment today with Kaplan Sinus Relief to learn about convenient, yet lasting sinus snoring treatment.