Do you find yourself waking up every morning with an achy sore throat and wonder what is causing it?
You may have thought that you probably had a cold or allergies or the air was just way too dry.
You may even have wondered, can snoring cause a sore throat?
The facts are that it is entirely possible the reason that you have a sore throat every day is that you snore.
What causes snoring in the first place?
Snoring can be caused by many different reasons such as deviated septum, polyps, sinus infections, being overweight, etc.
If someone breathes through their mouth instead of through their nose, it can also cause snoring because this causes more tissues to vibrate than regular nose breathing.
Your soft palate is a muscular extension on the top of your mouth that separates your nasal passage from the back of the mouth.
It moves to the front if someone breathes through the nose and opens up their airway.
Then there is the uvula, which is in the back of the soft palate.
Both of these vibrate when someone snores.
Why does snoring cause a sore throat?
Several reasons stand out as to why snoring can cause you to get a sore throat.
One is that the tissues in your throat vibrate against it all night long, thus causing a lot of friction.
That causes irritation to occur and it also dries out the throat.
To add to the problem, some homes have dry air in them due to the type of heating and cooling used.
One more reason is that a person’s sinus passages could get blocked due to irritation or other problems, and these also make people snore.
Then, our body recognizes that if there is a blockage we still must breathe somehow, so we end up breathing through the mouth.
When a person’s mouth hangs open all night, it dries out and gets inflamed and irritated.
All that irritation and dryness causes your throat to get sore.
Yet another cause to why your snoring could be producing a sore throat every day is that you have bad muscle tone in your throat.
When we sleep, our tongue and jaw get relaxed so they fall backward, and that can cause airway problems.
If someone smokes or drinks, it makes it even worse since we end up sedated and sleep deeper.
If they are obese, it complicates things even worse because the extra fat on their neck can cause airway restrictions too.
All in all these things cause the throat to get irritated and dry, and that in turn causes sore throats.
How to prevent a sore throat due to snoring
There are several ways to keep from getting a sore throat due to snoring.
These include:
Staying hydrated can reduce sore throats
A top way to keep your throat from getting too dry and sore due to snoring is too always stay hydrated.
Being dehydrated can end up making your throat dry and therefore cause you to snore and then, here comes that awful sore throat in the morning.
So be sure to drink at least eight glasses of water every day.
Getting rid of uour congestion may help
If you think your snoring is due to having congested sinuses, then you need to find a way to get rid of this congestion.
Clogged up sinuses will once again make the throat dry and irritated, thus causing a sore throat in the morning.
In order to relieve this problem, try using nasal sprays (both prescription and over the counter), take a decongestant, use vapor rub or use a dehumidifier.
If snoring is due to sinus congestion, then by handling the issue and getting clearer sinuses, you won’t be all clogged up, may not mouth breathe instead of breathing through the nose, so you won’t get a dry throat, end up snoring and voila, here comes the sore throat.
Try some Nasal Strips to help
Another way to get rid of the problem of snoring ultimately causing your sore throat is to use some nasal strips.
These special made strips bull the nostrils open by using the bridge of your nose and that makes your airway larger.
The are one-time use and there are several over the counter brands you can go with.
Try a Chin Strap
Another possible solution to stop the cycle of snoring causing a sore throat is to use a chin strap.
Since some people snore because they sleep with their mouth open, a chin strap works to keep the mouth closed so you have to breathe through the nose.
Special Snoring Mouthpiece
Yet another possible solution is to try a special snore stopping mouthpiece.
These go inside the mouth and hold your jaw and tongue in a forward position, therefore there is less restriction of the airway.
So, you won’t snore, and therefore no sore throat caused by snoring.
Sleep in a Different Position
If all else fails, another possible solution is to sleep in a different position so you won’t snore.
For instance, if you sleep on your back, try doing it on your side, as this is a great way to not snore.
If you don’t want to involuntarily roll back onto your back, try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pajama top, as it will stop you and cause you to roll back to your side.
The bottom line is that if you want a true answer to the question of can snoring cause a sore throat, the answer is that yes it’s possible.
If you are waking up every morning and have a sore throat, and you know that you also snore at night, then you have likely found the reason for your sore throat.
This is especially true if you are sure you don’t have a cold or the flu or some kind of allergy or sinus infection.
So if you do have a sore throat, and snore, try out some of the above suggestions to help you stop snoring and your sore throat days will hopefully be over.