Sleeping next to someone who snores is one of the most common sleep disruptions adults face, and it does more than just annoy you. Women living with snorers are three times as likely to develop insomnia symptoms compared to those with quiet sleepers, and roughly a third of bed partners report that snoring causes real friction in their relationship. The good news: a combination of simple tools and environmental changes can dramatically improve your sleep without banishing anyone to the couch.
Block the Noise With Earplugs
Earplugs are the fastest, cheapest fix. They’re rated by a Noise Reduction Rating (NRR), which tells you how many decibels they block. Most earplugs fall between 22 and 33 dB, and since moderate snoring typically ranges from 40 to 60 dB, a good pair can bring it down to a much more tolerable hum.
Silicone earplugs designed for sleep, like those from Loop or ZQuiet, reduce noise by about 25 to 27 dB and tend to stay comfortable through the night because they’re softer and less likely to expand inside your ear canal. Foam earplugs often have higher NRR ratings (up to 33 dB) but can feel bulky and create pressure after a few hours. If you’ve never slept with earplugs before, start with silicone. They’re reusable, easier to insert, and less likely to make you give up after one night.
Use Sound Masking to Your Advantage
White noise machines and apps work differently from earplugs. Instead of blocking sound, they raise the baseline level of ambient noise so that the sudden, irregular bursts of snoring don’t jolt you awake. Pink noise, which emphasizes lower frequencies and sounds more like steady rainfall, is particularly effective here because it smooths out the contrast between silence and a loud snore. If you’ve tried white noise and found it too “hissy,” pink noise is worth experimenting with.
You can combine sound masking with earplugs for a layered approach. Play pink or brown noise on a bedside speaker at a comfortable volume while wearing silicone earplugs. The earplugs knock down the snoring by 25+ dB, and the steady background sound fills in whatever gets through.
Change Your Partner’s Sleep Position
Most snoring is worst when someone sleeps on their back. In that position, gravity pulls the tongue and soft tissue backward, narrowing the airway and increasing vibration. Getting your partner onto their side can make a noticeable difference.
The classic trick is a tennis ball sewn into the back of a sleep shirt, which makes rolling onto the back uncomfortable enough that most people shift without waking up. Wedge pillows and body pillows can also help. One clinical study found that sleeping at an incline reduced snoring duration by about 7%, which sounds modest but translated to participants reporting they went from snoring “sometimes” to “rarely” waking themselves up. Combining a slight incline with side sleeping tends to produce better results than either alone.
Smart anti-snore pillows take this a step further. These contain sensors that detect snoring sounds and automatically shift the foam to reposition the sleeper’s head. A pilot study of 30 patients found that these pillows significantly reduced both snoring frequency and the number of breathing disruptions per hour in people with mild to moderate sleep apnea. They weren’t effective for severe cases, but for garden-variety snoring, the repositioning can help.
Try Nasal Dilators or Strips
If your partner’s snoring seems to come from their nose rather than their throat, opening the nasal passages can reduce airflow resistance and quiet things down. External nasal strips (the adhesive kind you stick across the bridge of the nose) and internal nasal dilators (small silicone inserts placed inside the nostrils) both work by physically widening the nasal valve.
A clinical comparison of 41 snoring patients found that both types significantly reduced snoring time compared to no treatment. Internal dilators came out slightly ahead: they worked for a larger percentage of patients and were associated with better overall sleep quality. Some people find internal dilators more comfortable because there’s no adhesive pulling on skin, while others prefer the simplicity of sticking on a strip. Neither is expensive, so it’s worth trying both.
Adjust the Bedroom Environment
Dry air irritates nasal passages and can make snoring worse. Running a humidifier in the bedroom to keep humidity between 30% and 50% helps keep the tissues in the nose and throat hydrated, which reduces the vibration that produces snoring sounds. This is especially useful in winter when heating systems dry out indoor air, or if you live in an arid climate. A simple hygrometer (available for a few dollars) can tell you where your bedroom sits so you’re not guessing.
Elevating the head of the bed by a few inches, using a wedge pillow or placing risers under the headboard legs, can also reduce snoring by preventing tissue from collapsing into the airway. This is different from just propping up with extra pillows, which can kink the neck and actually make things worse.
Address Alcohol and Other Triggers
Alcohol relaxes the muscles in the nose and throat, making the airway more collapsible. This makes snoring louder, breathing pauses longer, and can even impair the body’s ability to wake itself up after a paused breath. If your partner drinks in the evening, the timing matters: finishing alcohol at least three hours before bed gives the body enough time to metabolize it so it’s less likely to affect sleep. A cocktail with an early dinner is significantly less disruptive than a nightcap right before bed.
Sedating medications, including some antihistamines and sleep aids, can have a similar muscle-relaxing effect. Sleeping with a full stomach, nasal congestion from allergies, and smoking all contribute as well. None of these changes will eliminate snoring overnight, but removing one or two triggers often brings the volume down enough that your earplugs or sound machine can handle the rest.
When Snoring Signals Something Bigger
Not all snoring is harmless. Obstructive sleep apnea, where the airway repeatedly collapses during sleep and breathing actually stops, affects a significant number of snorers and carries real health risks including high blood pressure, heart disease, and daytime fatigue severe enough to cause accidents.
A few signs suggest your partner’s snoring may be more than a nuisance:
- Loud enough to hear through a closed door
- Gasping, choking, or visible pauses in breathing during sleep
- Persistent daytime sleepiness despite a full night in bed
- High blood pressure that’s hard to control
Risk increases with age (especially over 50), higher body weight, a neck circumference over 40 cm (about 16 inches), and male sex. If several of these apply, a sleep study can determine whether treatment like a custom oral appliance or CPAP is warranted. Mandibular advancement devices, which are fitted by a dentist and hold the lower jaw slightly forward during sleep, achieved a 50% or greater reduction in breathing disruptions for about 46% of patients in one clinical trial.
Sleeping Apart Without Guilt
About 25% to 33% of couples report that sleep problems are actively harming their relationship. If you’ve tried the strategies above and you’re still losing sleep, separate bedrooms are a legitimate option, not a sign of a failing relationship. Researchers who study the intersection of sleep and marriage have found that divorce is actually associated with worse sleep outcomes, suggesting that preserving the relationship matters more than preserving the shared bed.
Some couples split the difference: sleeping apart on weeknights and together on weekends, or starting the night together and moving to a second room if snoring wakes them. The goal is for both people to get restorative sleep, however that looks in practice. Poor sleep erodes patience, mood, and connection far more than sleeping in different rooms does.