If you are more than 20 pounds overweight, you probably have a problem with snoring, even if you don’t realize it.  This is because your air passages are already narrow, and any extra fat or tissue around your neck will cause your airway to become pinched when the muscles in your neck become fully relaxed, as they do during the deepest stages of sleep.  This is also the point where you are least aware of your surroundings, and this explains why many people who snore aren’t aware of it, or don’t believe it when they are told they do.  The truth is that, if somebody has told you that you snore, they were probably telling you the truth.

People have tried many fads and gimmicks over the course of human history to stop snoring.  There are snoring pillows and snoring neck bands.  There is also something called a sleep apnea mouthpiece .  Unfortunately, this can refer to one of those gimmick items, or it can refer to a real medical device that actually CAN stop snoring.  The gimmick is a thing that you hold in your mouth at night.  It rests between your teeth like one of those tooth whitening trays.  It is supposed to keep your lower jaw pulled forward, which is supposed to somehow keep your airway from closing.  The simple truth is that it just doesn’t work.  The sleep apnea mouthpiece that does work is one that attaches to a CPAP machine.

The CPAP machine is the only medically proven way to stop snoring.  It is similar to a breathing tube that you might wear at the hospital, but this one you wear in bed at night.  The machine sits next to your bed and attaches to your nose (or your nose and mouth) via a tube.  The tube can be attached to the mouthpiece or to a nose/mouth mask.  It creates a seal against your face, and the tube blows gentle air into your airway, inflating it very slightly.  This serves to keep your airway open all night, and prevents both snoring and episodes of sleep apnea.

Of course, the presence of the mask on your face takes some getting used to.  It also requires you to use a special pillow so that the mask doesn’t become twisted on your face if you roll over onto your side.  This special pillow is called a CPAP pillow, and it has little indentations on each of it sides to allow room for your mask.