Snoring doesn’t have a single cure, but most people can significantly reduce or eliminate it with the right combination of changes. The best approach depends on what’s causing your snoring in the first place: excess weight, sleep position, alcohol use, or the shape of your airway. Here’s what actually works, what doesn’t, and how to tell if your snoring signals something more serious.
Why Snoring Happens
As you fall into deeper sleep, the muscles in your throat, tongue, and soft palate relax. These sagging tissues partially block your airway, and as air pushes past them, they vibrate. The narrower your airway gets, the more forceful the airflow becomes, and the louder the vibration. Anything that further narrows the airway or relaxes those muscles, whether it’s extra weight around the neck, sleeping on your back, or drinking alcohol before bed, makes snoring worse.
Weight Loss: Effective, but Only if You’re Overweight
If your BMI is above 25, losing weight is one of the most reliable ways to reduce snoring. Research published in Lung India found that snoring rates were significantly higher in people with a BMI above 25 compared to those at a normal weight. The useful detail: you don’t need to reach an idealized low weight. Getting your BMI down to 25 is the meaningful threshold. Further weight loss beyond that point didn’t produce additional benefits for snoring.
That said, weight loss doesn’t help everyone. If you’re already at a normal weight and still snore, the problem likely involves the structure of your airway or fat deposits specifically around the upper throat, which don’t always correlate with overall body weight. In that case, you’ll need to look at other strategies.
Sleep Position Changes
Sleeping on your back lets gravity pull your tongue and soft palate backward, narrowing the airway. Switching to your side is one of the simplest interventions, and clinical data supports it. A Cochrane review of eight studies found that positional therapy (devices designed to keep you off your back) reduced breathing disruptions by about 7 events per hour compared to no treatment. People also reported less daytime sleepiness.
The challenge is sticking with it. Some people experience back or chest discomfort from positional devices, and long-term adherence tends to drop off after the first couple of months. Low-tech solutions like sewing a tennis ball into the back of a sleep shirt or using a wedge pillow can work for lighter snorers. If you notice your snoring is dramatically worse on your back but nearly silent on your side, positional therapy alone may be enough.
Alcohol and Sedatives
Alcohol is both a central nervous system depressant and a peripheral muscle relaxant. It reduces the activity of the muscles that hold your airway open, particularly the tongue muscle that keeps your airway from collapsing during sleep. Even moderate drinking in the hours before bed can turn a mild snorer into a loud one, or push someone who doesn’t normally snore into snoring territory. Sedative medications can have a similar effect. Cutting out alcohol for at least three to four hours before sleep is one of the easiest and most immediate fixes.
Mouth and Throat Exercises
This one surprises most people, but exercising the muscles in your mouth and throat (called oropharyngeal exercises or myofunctional therapy) can meaningfully reduce snoring. A randomized trial found that three months of daily exercises cut the frequency of loud snoring roughly in half. The exercises target the tongue, soft palate, and throat muscles, strengthening them so they’re less likely to collapse during sleep.
Common exercises include pressing the tongue firmly against the roof of the mouth and sliding it backward, puffing out each cheek repeatedly, and singing vowel sounds in an exaggerated way. The key is consistency: daily practice for at least three months before expecting results. This approach works best for people with mild to moderate snoring and is worth trying before considering devices or surgery.
Nasal Strips and Nasal Dilators
Adhesive nasal strips and internal nasal dilators work by physically widening the nasal passages, reducing airflow resistance so you can breathe more easily through your nose. External strips pull the sides of the nose outward. Internal dilators sit inside the nostrils and prop them open.
A systematic review and meta-analysis found that nasal dilators cannot be recommended as a standalone treatment for snoring. They may provide some relief for people whose snoring is primarily driven by nasal congestion or a narrow nasal valve, but they don’t address the throat-level vibration that causes most snoring. Think of them as a supplement, not a solution. If your snoring persists with your mouth closed and your nose clear, nasal strips won’t fix it.
Oral Appliances
Mandibular advancement devices are custom-fitted mouthpieces that push your lower jaw slightly forward during sleep. This repositions the tongue and surrounding tissues, opening up the airway behind the throat. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends these devices as a treatment for primary snoring (snoring without sleep apnea) in adults.
Over-the-counter “boil and bite” versions exist and are less expensive, but custom devices fitted by a dentist tend to be more comfortable and effective. Common side effects include jaw soreness, excess saliva, and changes in bite alignment over time. Most people adapt within a few weeks. If you’ve tried lifestyle changes without success and want to avoid surgery, an oral appliance is typically the next step.
Surgery: Limited Evidence, Real Risks
Surgical options for snoring include procedures that remove or reshape tissue in the throat, such as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) and laser-assisted versions. The evidence for these is surprisingly weak. A systematic review found no clear effect from laser-assisted surgery or radiofrequency ablation on daytime sleepiness, quality of life, or snoring when compared to sham treatment. One small trial showed improvement in snoring intensity with laser surgery, but a second trial comparing it to a fake procedure found no significant difference.
The risks are not trivial. A large observational study of over 3,100 UPPP patients reported serious complications in 1.5% of cases and perioperative death in 0.2%. Roughly a quarter to a third of patients experienced swallowing problems after surgery. Given the limited evidence of benefit and real potential for harm, surgery is generally reserved for people who have failed all other options and whose snoring severely impacts their quality of life or indicates obstructive sleep apnea.
When Snoring May Be Sleep Apnea
Not all snoring is harmless. Snoring exists on a spectrum that ranges from mild upper airway vibration to obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where breathing repeatedly stops and restarts during sleep. Sleep apnea is diagnosed when a sleep study shows five or more pauses or significant reductions in airflow per hour of sleep.
Signs that your snoring may be more than just noise include gasping or choking during sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness despite a full night in bed, morning headaches, and a partner reporting that you stop breathing periodically. If any of these sound familiar, a home sleep study or in-lab evaluation can distinguish between simple snoring and apnea. The distinction matters because sleep apnea carries cardiovascular risks that lifestyle changes alone may not adequately address, and treatments like CPAP become important.
Putting It Together
The most effective approach for most snorers combines several strategies. Start with the basics: avoid alcohol before bed, sleep on your side, and lose weight if your BMI is above 25. Add daily mouth and throat exercises for three months. If snoring persists, an oral appliance fitted by a dentist is a proven next option. Nasal strips can complement these efforts if nasal congestion is part of the picture, but they rarely solve the problem alone. Reserve surgery as a last resort, and get evaluated for sleep apnea if your snoring is loud, accompanied by breathing pauses, or leaving you exhausted during the day.