Sleeping next to a snorer is one of the most common sleep complaints among couples, and the good news is you have more options than just nudging them onto their side. Solutions range from quick fixes you can try tonight to longer-term changes that address the snoring itself. Here’s what actually works.
Start With Earplugs or Ear Protection
The fastest thing you can do tonight is block the sound at your ears. Soft foam earplugs designed specifically for snoring, like Mack’s Snore Blockers, carry a noise reduction rating of 32 to 33 decibels. Since average snoring sits around 40 decibels or higher, foam plugs won’t eliminate the sound entirely, but they can reduce it enough to let you fall asleep and stay asleep through lighter snoring.
For the best seal, roll the foam plug into a tight cylinder, pull your ear up and back to straighten the ear canal, then insert it and hold it in place for about 15 seconds while it expands. A poor fit is the main reason people think earplugs don’t work. If standard foam plugs feel uncomfortable, wax or silicone putty plugs mold to the outer ear and may feel better for side sleepers. Custom-molded earplugs from an audiologist cost more but stay put all night and can be shaped for your specific ear canal.
Use Sound Masking to Your Advantage
A white noise machine or app doesn’t cancel snoring, but it can make the sound far less noticeable. The principle is simple: your brain pays attention to sudden changes in sound. Snoring stands out in a silent room because there’s nothing else competing for your attention. A steady background noise raises the overall sound floor, so the peaks of each snore don’t contrast as sharply.
White noise contains equal energy across all frequencies, from low rumbles to high hisses. Pink noise turns down the higher frequencies, producing a deeper, more natural sound similar to steady rain or a waterfall. Because snoring tends to sit in the lower frequency range, pink noise may blend with it more effectively than pure white noise. Brown noise goes even deeper, closer to a low roar. Experiment with all three to find which one masks your partner’s specific snoring pattern best. A bedside fan accomplishes something similar, with the added benefit of air circulation.
Place the sound source between you and the snorer, not on your nightstand behind you. This positions the masking sound in the same direction as the snoring, making your brain more likely to lump them together.
Help Your Partner Reduce the Snoring
While protecting your own sleep matters, the most effective long-term strategy is reducing the snoring at its source. Several lifestyle factors directly affect how loudly someone snores.
Sleep Position
Snoring is almost always worse on the back. When someone sleeps face-up, gravity pulls the tongue and soft tissue toward the back of the throat, narrowing the airway. A body pillow or a wedge pillow behind their back can keep them on their side. Some people sew a tennis ball into the back of an old T-shirt to make back-sleeping uncomfortable enough that they naturally roll over.
Alcohol and Sedatives
Alcohol relaxes the muscles in the throat, including the epiglottis (the cartilage flap between the throat and mouth) and the surrounding tissue. The airway narrows, nasal passages can swell, and the body compensates by pulling air in more forcefully, creating the vibrations that produce snoring. Even someone who doesn’t normally snore can start after a couple of drinks. If your partner snores noticeably worse on nights they drink, cutting off alcohol three to four hours before bed can make a real difference.
Nasal Congestion
Anything that blocks the nose forces mouth breathing, which increases snoring. Adhesive nasal strips, a saline rinse before bed, or running a humidifier in the bedroom can all help keep nasal passages open. If allergies are the culprit, keeping the bedroom free of dust and pet dander and washing pillowcases weekly can reduce nighttime congestion.
Oral Appliances and Anti-Snoring Devices
Mandibular advancement devices look like a mouth guard and work by holding the lower jaw slightly forward, which opens the airway behind the tongue. You can find over-the-counter “boil and bite” versions that mold to your teeth at home. Custom-fitted versions from a dentist are more effective and more comfortable for long-term use, according to Cleveland Clinic. These devices work best for people whose snoring comes from the throat rather than the nose.
Chin straps, tongue-retaining devices, and positional therapy belts are other options with varying degrees of evidence behind them. An anti-snoring device is worth trying before jumping to more involved medical treatments, but results vary widely from person to person.
When Snoring May Signal Something More Serious
As the person lying next to the snorer, you’re actually in the best position to spot warning signs of obstructive sleep apnea. Watch for these specific patterns:
- Pauses in breathing where the snoring stops for several seconds, then restarts with a gasp or choking sound
- Snoring loud enough to hear through a closed door
- Frequent nighttime bathroom trips
- Excessive daytime sleepiness despite what seems like a full night of sleep
Snoring that’s interrupted by periods of silence is a particularly important red flag. If your partner shows any of these signs, a sleep study can determine whether they have sleep apnea. This matters beyond the noise issue: untreated sleep apnea raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other serious conditions.
If sleep apnea is diagnosed, a CPAP machine is the standard treatment. Modern CPAP machines emit around 30 decibels of sound, which is roughly whisper-level. Since untreated snoring from sleep apnea typically runs 40 decibels or louder, and decibels are logarithmic (40 dB sounds about twice as loud as 30 dB), a CPAP machine is dramatically quieter than the snoring it replaces. For the bed partner, this is often a night-and-day improvement.
Make Your Bedroom Work Harder
Small changes to your sleep environment can take the edge off. Heavy curtains absorb sound better than thin ones, and they block early morning light that might wake you during a lighter sleep phase when snoring is more noticeable. Soft furnishings in general (thick rugs, upholstered headboards, extra pillows) absorb sound waves rather than reflecting them the way hard surfaces do. You won’t soundproof a room this way, but you can soften the acoustics enough to notice a difference.
Going to bed before your partner is another surprisingly effective tactic. If you can fall into deep sleep before the snoring starts, you’re less likely to be disturbed by it. Over a third of people in couples already go to sleep at a different time than they’d prefer to accommodate a partner, so you wouldn’t be alone in adjusting your schedule.
Sleeping Apart Isn’t a Failure
Nearly one in three U.S. adults now practice what’s been called a “sleep divorce,” sleeping in a separate bed or a different room to get better rest. A 2025 survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found the practice is most common among adults aged 35 to 44, with 39% of that age group sleeping separately at least some of the time.
The framing matters. Sleep researchers emphasize that separate sleeping has more to do with mutual respect for each person’s sleep quality than with relationship trouble. In fact, the opposite can be true: when sleep is chronically disrupted by a partner’s snoring, resentment builds. Poor sleep also reduces empathy, patience, and emotional regulation, all things that make relationships harder. Sleeping apart so both people wake up rested can genuinely strengthen a partnership.
If full-time separate rooms feels like too much, try it on work nights only, or start with a few nights per week. Some couples use separate rooms as a backup plan: start together, then one person moves if the snoring becomes unbearable. Having a comfortable guest bed or a good couch setup removes the guilt from the decision in the moment.