Explanation

Snoring is a sound made when you breathe through your mouth and nose when you are asleep. It can be just a soft sound or a really loud noise but you don't know you are doing it unless you are told by your friends or family. It happens when air doesn't move smoothly through your air passages. This makes the tissue of your soft palate (the back of the roof of your mouth) and other tissue in your mouth, nose and throat shake as the air passes through. Snoring can occur when you are breathing in or out.

When you sleep, the muscles in your mouth, throat and nose relax, so they are more likely to shake. You do not snore when you are awake because the tissues are not relaxed enough to shake and make noise.

Snoring can also be caused if the flow of air is blocked because you have too much tissue in your nose, mouth and throat.

You are more likely to snore if you:

are overweight

are middle-aged or older

are taking medicines that make you sleepy

sleep on your back

have a cold or allergies

have a low or thick soft palate (back of the roof of your mouth)

big or swollen tonsils

have a long uvula (the piece of skin that hangs between your tonsils)

have a damaged or misshapen nose ie if you have broken your nose in the past

Snoring can sometimes be a sign of sleep apnoea. This is when the blockage in your airway causes you to stop breathing for a few seconds, so you wake up many times during the night without knowing it. Your doctor might ask you to do a home oximetry test or a sleep test if you snore to see if you have sleep apnoea.