A NY Times article by Anahad O’Conner just reported on a study from the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. The study and the story include one popular treatment for snoring, namely that a tennis ball sewn in the back of pajamas could reduce the snoring. While there were some good results, the treatment was stopped due to unpleasant side effects.
The story raises some reasonable questions…particularly whether or not the tennis ball treatment is worse than the disease? Simply put; NO.
Contrary to what the snorer may believe, snoring is generally NOT a private habit. Snoring is ONLY a private habit if you sleep alone. If you sleep with someone else, the sound you make can turn relationships upside down.
Most people ignore a snoring problem and will often hide it by pretending it doesn’t exist. But Homer Simpson snores, Fred Flintstone snores, Dagwood snores…and those three guys are among forty million other Americans who snore every night.
All denial aside, just do the math;
-forty million Americans snore
-so sixty million other people (partners, children and even pets) collide with the sound on a nightly basis
Snoring gets a lot of press, and it should. Snoring impacts 100 million Americans on a regular basis. The loudest snorer on record was 90 decibels. How loud would that be? 90 decibels is about as loud as a circular saw or a lawn mower.
It’s time to “out” your snoring. Snoring happens. And denying it won’t pay the bulldog – or solve the problem.
Maybe the key to getting snoring into the open is a 12 step support group.
“Hi, my name is Nancy, and I snore.”
“Hi Nancy.”
It would work like this;
Step 1 of Snorers Anonymous:
Come to believe that you are powerless over your snoring and that your life has become unmanageable. The elbow-in-the-side therapy by your partner is not working anymore.
Step 2 of SA:
Come to believe that a power greater than yourself can restore you to a fully rested night’s sleep. The greater power could include tennis balls, CPAP, oral appliance, surgery, pillar implants.
Step 3 of SA:
Make a decision to turn your snoring over to the care of your clinician no matter how ugly you think you look when you are asleep.
The English novelist Anthony Burgess once wrote,
“Laugh and the world laughs with you, snore and you sleep alone.”
He was right.
