If your partner's snoring is keeping you up at night, you're not alone. Dr. Dianne Augelli, a sleep medicine specialist, says that 75 percent of the couples who come to her say partner's snores are to blame for their restless nights.
To help you both get a sound night's sleep, Augelli has a few tricks to keep the peace:
Because sleeping on your back puts you in prime position for snoring, Augelli recommends a "snore ball T-shirt" to help the offender sleep on his or her side.
"Essentially, it's just putting two or three tennis balls into a pocket on the back of a t-shirt, which makes it uncomfortable and unpleasant to sleep on your back," Augelli explains in the above #OWNSHOW video. "And so people will tend to learn to sleep on their side."
If the tennis ball fails, Augelli says she occasionally recommends purchasing an inflatable belt made specifically for snoring. Like the snore ball T-shirt, an inflatable belt makes it difficult to sleep on your back.
Surrounding yourself in stiff body pillows may also do the trick, Augelli says. She instructs to place them on either side of the body which can help you stay positioned your side.
While these simple solutions can work for the casual snorer, it's important to note that people who suffer from sleep apnea need more than a home remedy. "[Sleep] apnea is a collapse of your airway, where it doesn't allow enough oxygen or air to flow through," Augelli explains. "This can have profound effects on your heart, your brain and your entire body functioning."
Sleep apnea symptoms include:
- Gasping for breath
- Your partner witnessing you stop breathing or having pauses in your breathing
- Loud snoring that can be heard outside of the bedroom
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
If you or your partner suffers from sleep apnea, Augelli says there are two helpful products on the market that you can discuss with your physician.
CPAP Pillow
Your doctor may recommend you wear a CPAP device, which stands for continuous positive airway pressure. The device supplies air to sleep apnea patients through a tube connected to a mask -- but unfortunately, this can be an uncomfortable experience. "Having something on your face can be a little bit difficult for some people, especially side sleepers," Augelli says.
In this case, Augelli recommends her patients try a CPAP pillow. "Basically, they're grooved on each side, which allows a patient wearing a mask to turn from side to side without pushing their mask away from their face and causing leaks," she says.
For patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea, Augelli may suggest something called a mandibular advancement device. This custom fitted device is fitted to the lower teeth and the upper teeth and pulls the lower jaw forward, creating more airway space.
Foods That Are Making You Sleepy
Your Sad Desk Salads(01 of05)
Open Image ModalString Cheese And Yogurt(02 of05)
Open Image ModalSad but true: Dairy could be behind your fatigue. You may have digested it just fine when you were younger, but intolerances to the proteins in dairy (casein and whey) can develop as we age, and tiredness is a hallmark symptom. "At least 50 to 60 percent of my patients complain of fatigue, and I would estimate that 20 to 30 percent of those people feel better off dairy," says Lyla Blake-Gumbs, MD, from the Center for Integrative Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. (The mechanism isn't entirely clear, but it's believed that the body mistakenly develops an immunological reaction to the proteins, building an army of antibodies to mobilize against the proteins whenever they show up, resulting in fatigue.) Fatigue isn't usually the only symptom, but it's possible for it to present without GI problems, says Blake-Gumbs, which is why few people connect the dots to their diet. "Dairy is ubiquitous in our food supply," she says. "And a lot of processed foods that you wouldn't think of as dairy have milk solids and proteins in them. For example, anything with caramel flavoring likely has dairy additives in it."
Pick Yourself Up: If you notice an energy lag after you eat dairy, talk to your doctor about going on an elimination diet, a method that Blake-Gumbs often uses with patients in which all potential culprits are removed from your diet, then reintroduced one at a time to see which one is causing the problem. (credit:tacar/iStock/Thinkstock)
Bananas Or Nuts(03 of05)
Open Image ModalThere's a reason bananas are often presented as a fix for muscle cramps: They're high in magnesium, a mineral that helps relax muscle cells. "We give people magnesium at night to help them sleep," says Blake-Gumbs. Another magnesium source? Nuts, particularly almonds, cashews and peanuts. The dosage that'll make someone tired is different for everyone, but you're more likely to feel the effects if you're too low on magnesium to start with.
Pick Yourself Up: As long as you're not deficient in magnesium, you should be fine to eat either bananas or nuts on their own. Symptoms of a magnesium deficiency (according to the most recent National Health And Nutrition Survey that examined magnesium intake, nearly half of all Americans aren't meeting recommended levels) include loss of appetite, nausea and fatigue, and those with type 2 diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders or celiac disease are at particularly high risk. (credit:CBCK-Christine/iStock/Thinkstock)
Last Night's Late Dinner(04 of05)
Open Image ModalSometimes crazy days mean that your last meal comes right before bedtime. But just as the right foods can help you drift off into deep, restorative slumber, the wrong ones can result in a poor night's sleep, leaving you dragging the next day. Among the culprits: acidic foods like meat, eggs and dairy that can lead to nighttime acid reflux. "If you eat something acidic within two hours of going to bed, it'll probably still be in your stomach and could cause some gastroesophageal reflux," says Blake-Gumbs. "If you're someone who deals with acid reflux often, you shouldn't be eating those foods even four hours before you go to bed."
Pick Yourself Up: When you just can't avoid eating close to bedtime, stick with non-acidic, or alkaline, foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts like almonds, which won't cause sleep-disrupting GI issues. (credit:Jacek Chabraszewski/iStock/Thinkstock)
That Occasional Sugary Or Fatty Indulgence(05 of05)
Open Image ModalHere's one downside to a super-nutritious diet -- when you decide to treat yourself, your body likely won't handle it very well. "Research indicates that our gastro-intestinal tract adjusts to what we eat," Politi says. "If you're sticking to a low-fat, low-sugar diet, you start to produce less of the gastric juices and enzymes that help digest sugar and fat easily." And that doesn't just spell digestive trouble; it can lower your energy afterward, too, likely more so than if you'd been eating less-than-superbly all along. Politi knows this firsthand. As a nutritionist, her own diet is the kind we all aspire to, and when she occasionally has a slice of cake at her office's monthly employee birthday parties, "I feel so lousy, like I need to take a nap immediately," she says.
Pick Yourself Up: No one's advocating total treat deprivation, but when you decide it's time for something more sugary or fattening than you typically eat, just be prepared for the slump that may follow. (credit:mitrs3/iStock/Thinkstock)