How to Stop Snoring: 12 Methods That Work
To stop snoring, start with the quick wins: sleep on your side, cut alcohol before bed, lose excess weight, and clear a blocked nose. Nasal aids, mouthpieces and throat exercises help some people. If you snore loudly with breathing pauses or daytime tiredness, see your GP. An app cannot diagnose anything.
Snoring happens when air moves through a narrowed airway and makes relaxed tissue at the back of your nose and throat vibrate. Most snoring is common and not usually caused by anything serious, but it can wreck your sleep and your partner’s. The good news is that learning how to stop snoring is mostly about a few simple, cheap changes backed by decent evidence. Here are 12 methods that work, sorted from easiest to most involved.
What causes snoring in the first place?
When you fall asleep, the muscles in your mouth, tongue and throat relax. That narrows the airway, so the air you breathe moves faster and more turbulently, and the soft tissue starts to flutter. The soft palate and the uvula (the little flap at the back of your throat) are the usual culprits.
Anything that narrows the airway further, or relaxes those muscles more, makes snoring worse. The NHS lists the main factors as being overweight, smoking, drinking too much alcohol, and sleeping on your back. A blocked nose adds to it too. If you want the full picture, read what causes snoring. Understanding your own triggers is the first step, because the right fix depends on the cause.
How to stop snoring fast: the quickest wins
These four cost little or nothing and target the most common triggers. If you only try a handful of things, start here.
| Method | Why it helps | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Sleep on your side | Stops gravity pulling your tongue and soft palate back | Almost everyone; the biggest single win for many |
| Cut alcohol before bed | Alcohol relaxes airway muscles so they collapse more | People who snore worse after a drink |
| Lose excess weight | Less tissue around the neck and airway | Anyone carrying extra weight |
| Clear a blocked nose | A clear nose means lower airflow resistance | People who snore when congested or with a cold |
1. Roll onto your side. Snoring is loudest and most frequent when you lie on your back, because gravity pulls your tongue and soft palate backwards. In one sleep-laboratory study, snorers had significantly less snoring time and quieter snoring on their side than on their back. If you wake up on your back every night, a tennis ball sewn into the back of a pyjama top, a body pillow, or a positional device can keep you on your side. We go deeper in the best sleeping position to stop snoring.
2. Skip the nightcap. Alcohol relaxes the muscles that hold your airway open. A review of 14 trials found alcohol measurably worsened sleep breathing, and the effect was larger in people who already snore. Try leaving three to four hours between your last drink and bed, and see whether quiet nights follow. More on this in snoring and alcohol.
3. Lose excess weight if you carry it. Excess weight is the single strongest changeable risk factor for snoring and disordered breathing. The odds of obstructive sleep apnoea rise about 14 percent for every one-point increase in BMI, and losing 10 to 15 percent of your body weight can substantially cut night-time breathing events. You do not need to reach a perfect number; even a modest loss can help. See snoring and weight for the detail.
4. Clear your nose. A blocked or congested nose forces faster airflow and more vibration. Treating the congestion, whether it is a cold, allergies or a structural issue, often quietens things down. A saline rinse, a steamy shower before bed, or a GP-recommended nasal spray for ongoing rhinitis can all help. Read blocked nose and snoring.
Do anti-snoring devices and exercises actually work?
Some do, for the right person. The trick is matching the device to where your snoring comes from.
5. Nasal strips or dilators. These hold the nostrils open and can help if your snoring is mainly nasal. They will not do much for throat-based snoring. See do nasal strips work for snoring.
6. Anti-snore pillows. A pillow that keeps your head and neck aligned, or nudges you onto your side, can reduce back-sleeping snoring. The evidence is thinner than for the basics, so treat it as a gentle nudge rather than a cure. Read the best anti-snore pillow.
7. Mandibular advancement devices (mouthpieces). These hold your lower jaw slightly forward to keep the airway open. They are one of the better-evidenced options and a common alternative to a CPAP machine for milder cases. A dentist-fitted version tends to last longer and fit better than a boil-and-bite one. See the mandibular advancement device guide.
8. Throat exercises (myofunctional therapy). Daily tongue and throat exercises tone the muscles that keep your airway open. One review found these exercises roughly halved sleep-breathing event counts in adults. Even playing a wind instrument like the didgeridoo has been shown to help. It takes a few weeks of consistency to notice a difference. Read throat exercises for snoring.
9. Stop smoking. Smoking inflames and narrows the airway. Both current smokers and ex-smokers have higher odds of disordered breathing than people who have never smoked, and even second-hand smoke is linked to it. Quitting helps your snoring along with everything else. See smoking and snoring.
10. Avoid sedatives before bed. Sleeping pills and other sedatives relax the airway in the same way alcohol does. The NHS advises against sleeping tablets unless a doctor recommends them.
11. Keep a steady bedtime and a good sleep routine. Being overtired can deepen your sleep and make snoring worse. A consistent schedule and a calm wind-down are simple, free and worth doing.
12. Treat allergies and reflux. Allergic rhinitis and night-time acid reflux both irritate the airway. If either rings true, your GP or pharmacist can suggest options. There is a fuller natural-methods list in how to stop snoring naturally.
How do I know if a change is actually working?
This is the part people skip. Snoring varies a lot from night to night, so it is hard to tell whether the side-sleeping or the cut-out nightcap really helped, or whether you just had a quiet night by chance. A snore tracker gives you something better than a guess.
Kip records and scores your snoring on your iPhone, so you can see loudness, how often it happens, and a trend over time. The audio never leaves your phone, there is no cloud upload, and the first three nights are free with no card and no ads. Change one thing at a time, watch the trend for a week, and you will know whether it stuck. Kip is a wellness and screening tool, not a medical device, and it does not diagnose anything. If you are new to this, see how to track snoring.
When should I see a GP about snoring?
Most snoring is harmless, but some patterns are worth a professional look. See your GP if your snoring is loud most nights and comes with any of these:
- Breathing pauses, gasping or choking that a partner has noticed
- Waking unrefreshed, often with a morning headache
- Strong daytime sleepiness, such as nodding off at your desk or while driving
- High blood pressure
These can be signs of obstructive sleep apnoea, which is more common than recorded diagnoses suggest. An estimated 1.5 million UK adults have it, and most are undiagnosed. Only a clinical sleep study can diagnose it, never an app. This is not about alarming you; these are simply the patterns a GP wants to hear about. Read when to see a GP about snoring for the full checklist.
Sources
- NHS: Snoring
- NHS: Sleep apnoea
- Kolla et al: The impact of alcohol on breathing parameters during sleep, a systematic review and meta-analysis
- Camacho et al: Myofunctional therapy meta-analysis
FAQ
What is the single most effective way to stop snoring?
There is no one answer for everyone, because it depends on the cause. For most people the biggest quick win is sleeping on their side instead of their back, since back-sleeping is when snoring is loudest. If you carry excess weight, losing some is the best-evidenced change of all.
Can you stop snoring permanently?
Sometimes. If your snoring has a clear, fixable cause, such as excess weight, a blocked nose, alcohol or smoking, dealing with that cause can stop it for good. For snoring linked to your jaw or airway shape, a mouthpiece or other ongoing measure usually works better than a one-off fix.
How do I stop snoring tonight?
For a quick result tonight, sleep on your side, skip alcohol with dinner, prop your head up slightly, and clear your nose with a saline rinse or steamy shower before bed. These will not solve a long-term cause, but they often quieten things for one night. See how to stop snoring tonight for more.