Snoring and relationships

Sleep partners of people who snore heavily often awaken over twenty times per hour. The constant sleep disruption and excessive tiredness caused by noisy snoring takes a toll on social and physical aspects of a relationship.

Many partners of snorers decide to sleep in separate rooms, and the resulting lack of bedtime chatting and physical intimacy can lead to a strained relationship. The person who snores often becomes isolated and frustrated about a problem they seemingly have no control over.

Medical cures and treatments for snoring

If your own efforts to stop snoring do not help, consult your physician or an otolaryngologist (ENT, or ear, nose, and throat doctor). If you choose to try a dental appliance for your snoring, you will need to see a dentist specializing in these devices.

Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)

To keep your airway open during sleep, a machine at your bedside blows pressurized air into a mask that you wear over your nose or face Dental appliances, oral devices, and lower jaw positioners Dental devices, which often resemble the mouth guards worn by athletes, can help open your airway by bringing your lower jaw or your tongue forward during sleep.

Most dental devices are acrylic and fit inside your mouth; others fit around your head and chin to adjust the position of your lower jaw. A dentist specializing in sleep disorders can help fit you for one of these devices.

Surgery

Certain surgeries, including Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), Thermal Ablation Palatoplasty (TAP), tonsillectomy, and adenoidectomy, increase the size of your airway by surgically removing tissues or correcting abnormalities. Using a scalpel, laser, or microwaving probe (radiofrequency energy), a surgeon may remove tonsils, adenoids, or excess tissue at the back of the throat or inside the nose, or
reconstruct the jaw.The Pillar procedure, or palatal implantation, is a new surgery which has shown promising results for snoring. Small plastic implants, less
than an inch-long in size, are inserted into the soft palate using a syringe-like instrument. The procedure is usually performed in a doctor’s office under local anesthesia, with little pain and mild side effects. Scar tissue builds up around the implants, causing the tissue of the soft palate to stiffen which ceases the vibrations that cause snoring. The down-side of this procedure, and any surgical cure, for that matter, is that it is relatively new and it is expensive. Most
insurance plans does not cover surgery for snoring.

See your doctor or dentist to discuss the medical treatments available

and to decide which might help your snoring.
source : http://helpguide.org/life/snoring.htm