Snoring is more than just an annoyance—it can be a sign of underlying airway issues that affect overall health. Leading many snorers to ask How Can I stop snoring?
While many people turn to quick fixes like nasal strips or specialized pillows, these often fail to address the root cause of snoring. Improvement may be noted in the short term, but lasting improvements evade you.
As a speech-language pathologist specializing in myofunctional oral motor therapy, I focus on strengthening the muscles of the mouth and airway to improve breathing patterns.
One of the most overlooked contributors to snoring is tethered oral tissues (TOTs), such as tongue ties and lip ties, which can have a profound impact on airway health and function.
Understanding the Airway’s Role in How Can I Stop Snoring
Snoring occurs when airflow through the upper airway is obstructed during sleep. This obstruction causes tissues in the throat to vibrate, producing the familiar snoring sound. Several structural and functional factors can contribute to airway obstruction, including:
- Tongue Ties (Ankyloglossia)
- Narrow Palate and High-Vaulted Palate
- Lip Ties and Mouth Breathing
- Weak Orofacial Muscles
- Narrow Nasal Passages or Obstructed Nasal Passages
By addressing these issues, we can often see a significant reduction in snoring, leading to better sleep quality and overall health.
Snoring during sleep often prevents the adult from getting into REM sleep. This is the deep restorative sleep our body and brain need to function optimally during the day.
Living in a state of poor sleep can have several negative effects. Waking unrested, poor focus, inattention, irritability, and increased anxiety are often noted.
Then there is the emotional toll it takes on partnerships. It is frequently reported that partners sleep apart due to one partner snoring. If this sounds familiar to you then keep reading to uncover a potential cause of your snoring.
Tongue Tie and Its Impact on Airway Health
A tongue tie occurs when the lingual frenulum (the band of tissue connecting the tongue to the floor of the mouth) is too tight, restricting tongue movement. This restriction prevents the tongue from resting naturally against the roof of the mouth (palate).
Proper tongue posture is crucial because it supports nasal breathing and keeps the airway open during sleep. When the tongue is tied:
- It often sits low in the mouth, falling back into the airway during sleep and contributing to obstruction.
- It limits the natural expansion of the palate, leading to a high and narrow palate, which further reduces airway space.
- It can lead to compensatory mouth breathing, which exacerbates airway collapse and snoring.
In infants, a tongue tie can interfere with breastfeeding, but in older children and adults, it contributes to dysfunctional oral rest posture, increased risk of sleep-disordered breathing, and habitual snoring.
It is the intra-oral pressure created by an elevated tongue and sealed mouth that pulls the palate downward. The tongue shapes the palate into a wide balanced space allowing for enough room for the teeth and tongue. Thereby keeping the airway open and moving freely.
If this is the first time you’ve considered a tongue tie please check out our free self-assessment HERE. Grab a mirror and have a look!
How a Narrow Palate Affects Breathing and Snoring
The shape of the palate (roof of the mouth) plays a significant role in airway health. A poorly developed palate will not allow for harmonious airway function. What we tend to find is:
- The nasal passages are constricted, making it harder to breathe through the nose. Think of it like this, the roof of the mouth is the floor of the nasal passages. If the palate is vaulted up, it encroaches into the nasal passage space. A narrow and high palate equals a narrow and constricted nasal passage.
- The tongue has less space to rest properly, increasing the likelihood of it falling back into the airway during sleep. Likely a tongue tie prevented the tongue from rising and pressing into the palate in the first place. When considering surgical release of tongue ties one should first consider palate expanders. Often both are needed to improve the airway space.
- The airway itself is more restricted, making it more prone to collapse and vibration, which results in snoring.
Palate expansion techniques, such as myofunctional therapy and orthodontic appliances (like palatal expanders), can help widen the airway and improve breathing. Achieving proper palatal space and training the tongue to rest in the palate can be the answer to How Can I Stop Snoring?
Lip Ties and Mouth Breathing: A Direct Path to How Can I Stop Snoring?
A lip tie occurs when the upper lip is restricted by a tight labial frenulum, limiting movement. This can impact oral function and contribute to mouth breathing. Mouth breathing is problematic because:
- It causes the tongue to rest low in the mouth, leading to airway obstruction.
- It dries out the airway tissues, making them more prone to collapse and vibration (snoring).
- It alters the development of the jaw and palate, making the airway smaller and more prone to obstruction.
Chronic mouth breathing is often linked to poor sleep quality, increased risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and daytime fatigue.
If you wake up with a dry mouth and chapped lips, this can be a sign of open-mouth breathing. A lip tie can compound the effects of a tongue tie.
Not sure if you have a lip tie? Check out our free self-assessment HERE and know for sure.
How Myofunctional Therapy Can Help Answer How Can I Stop Snoring
Myofunctional therapy is a series of exercises designed to strengthen the muscles of the tongue, lips, and throat to improve oral rest posture and airway stability. This non-invasive approach has been shown to significantly reduce snoring by:
- Encouraging proper tongue posture (resting on the palate, not the floor of the mouth).
- Strengthening airway muscles to prevent collapse during sleep.
- Retraining breathing patterns to promote nasal breathing over mouth breathing.
Following are some examples of exercises that might help answer the question “How Can I Stop Snoring?”. However, consultation with a myofunctional therapist is the best way to identify your specific needs, thereby determining your best exercises.
Myofascial release is one technique used in the floor of the mouth and jaw to reduce restrictions in the fascia. This will allow a better range of motion and strengthen these structures so that they do not collapse when sleeping.
When combining myofascial release with active exercise to build strength you achieve lasting results in your muscles.
Effective Myofunctional Exercises for Snoring Reduction
- Tongue Suction Hold
- Purpose: Encourages the tongue to rest against the roof of the mouth.
- How to Perform: Place the entire tongue against the palate and hold for 10-20 seconds. Repeat 5 times. This can take several weeks to achieve and may not fully be achieved until the tongue tie is surgically released. The key is to get the back or posterior tongue area up above the molars. Use a mirror to check progress.
- Tongue Press and Click
- Purpose: Strengthens tongue muscles to prevent airway collapse.
- How to Perform: Press the tongue firmly against the roof of the mouth for 1-3 seconds then forcefully click down to make a popping sound. Repeat 20 times.
- Soft Palate Lifts
- Purpose: Strengthens the soft palate to reduce vibration during sleep.
- How to Perform: Open your mouth wide and say “ahhh” while lifting the soft palate. Hold the ‘ahhh” 5 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
- Cheek Resistance Exercises
- Purpose: Improves the tone of cheek muscles for better oral stability.
- How to Perform: Blow up a new balloon 10x. When the balloon becomes stretched out replace it with a fresh balloon. When the cheeks are filled with air concentrate on squeezing them to push the air into the balloon. You can start with a stretched-out balloon and build up to a newly never-used balloon.
- Lip Closure Exercise
- Purpose: Promotes nasal breathing by strengthening lip muscles to reduce open mouth posture.
- How to Perform: Place a tongue depressor or craft stick between the lips length-wise. Make sure not to use the teeth to hold it in place. Squeeze the lips tightly onto the tongue depressor and hold for 15 seconds. Repeat 5 times.
Additional Strategies to Enhance Airway Health
Alongside myofunctional therapy, several lifestyle modifications can support better airway function and reduce snoring:
- Address Tongue and Lip Ties: If tethered oral tissues are present, a functional release (frenectomy) performed by a trained specialist can improve tongue and lip mobility and airway function. Especially when combined with myofunctional therapy. Fully releasing the frenulum allows for a full range of motion that can not be achieved through exercise alone.
- Optimize Nasal Breathing: Use saline rinses, or nasal strips, or consult an ENT to address nasal congestion. An ENT is integral to rule out any nasal obstruction or narrowing that may impact nasal breathing. Please avoid mouth taping until you’ve fully assessed nasal passageways.
- Maintain a Healthy Weight: Excess weight, particularly around the neck, can narrow the airway.
- Avoid Sleeping on Your Back: Side sleeping can help prevent the tongue from falling back into the throat.
- Reduce Alcohol and Sedatives: These relax the airway muscles, making snoring worse.
- Mouth Taping: As mentioned above do not tape the mouth closed unless you are certain the nasal passages are clear. Mouth taping can help facilitate a closed-mouth posture during sleep. This can be a successful strategy when paired with myofunctional exercises.
When to Seek Professional Help
If snoring persists despite these interventions, it could indicate a more serious condition such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Signs that warrant medical evaluation include:
- Loud, chronic snoring
- Pauses in breathing during sleep
- Gasping or choking episodes
- Excessive daytime fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
A sleep study can help determine if OSA is present and guide further treatment. Indeed, OSA would benefit from myofunctional therapy and evaluation of tongue or lip tie.
A team approach to How Can I Stop Snoring may be the best avenue for you to successfully reduce or eliminate your snoring.
Preferred providers in the assessment of tongue and lip ties are key to definitive diagnosis. Not all doctors or therapists are trained in this specialty. Unfortunately, it is often looked at as a fad and as of late accused of being over-diagnosed. When In fact, it is one of the most under-diagnosed conditions in the medical world today.
We like this website Tongue Tie Life for its comprehensive list of providers organized by state and town. It’s a great resource and place to start your journey in uncovering tongue and lip ties as potential causes for snoring.
Conclusion How Can I Stop Snoring?
Snoring is often a symptom of underlying airway dysfunction, and addressing the root cause can lead to lasting relief.
By improving tongue posture and promoting nasal breathing, myofunctional therapy offers a powerful, non-invasive approach to reducing snoring.
Understanding that not every doctor is trained in identifying tethered oral tissues and may not make it a part of their routine examination is an important perspective.
There may be more than one root cause for snoring, and ruling out one can lead you to the answer, How Can I Stop Snoring?
If you or a loved one struggles with snoring, consider incorporating these exercises into your routine and consulting a professional for a comprehensive airway assessment. Better sleep—and quieter nights—start with a healthy airway.
For more information on tongue and lip ties please check out our other articles on the topic at Lynn’s Tied Together Hub.