The most reliable ways to stop someone from snoring range from simple position changes and mouth devices to medical treatments, depending on what’s causing the noise. Snoring happens when relaxed throat tissues partially block the airway during sleep, and the narrower the airway gets, the louder the vibration. That means the fix depends on why the airway is narrowing in the first place.
Why the Snoring Is Happening Matters
During deep sleep, the muscles in the soft palate, tongue, and throat all relax. These sagging tissues narrow the airway, and as air forces its way through, the tissues vibrate like a loose sail in wind. The more restricted the passage, the harder the air pushes through and the louder the snoring gets.
Several things make this worse. A naturally thick or low-hanging soft palate narrows the airway at baseline. An elongated uvula (the small tissue that dangles at the back of the throat) adds more obstruction. Carrying extra weight around the neck compresses the airway from the outside. Nasal congestion, alcohol before bed, and sleeping on your back all contribute too. The approach that works best depends on which of these factors is doing the most damage, so it often takes some trial and error.
Side Sleeping and Positional Changes
Sleeping on your back lets gravity pull the tongue and soft palate backward into the airway. Switching to side sleeping is the simplest intervention and has real clinical support. In studies comparing positional therapy (keeping someone off their back) to no treatment, positional therapy reduced breathing disruptions by about 7 events per hour and improved daytime sleepiness scores. That’s a meaningful difference for something that costs nothing.
The classic trick is sewing a tennis ball into the back of a sleep shirt so rolling onto the back becomes uncomfortable. There are also commercial positional belts and wearable vibrating devices that gently nudge a person back to their side when they roll over. Elevating the head of the bed by a few inches can also help by keeping the airway more open, though the strongest evidence is specifically for side sleeping rather than head elevation alone.
Mouth Devices That Actually Work
If positional changes aren’t enough, a mandibular advancement device (MAD) is the next step worth trying. These mouthpieces push the lower jaw slightly forward during sleep, which pulls the tongue base away from the back of the throat and opens the airway. They’re significantly more effective than nasal strips, which show minimal to no objective benefit for snoring in controlled trials. Studies have found that nasal strips don’t meaningfully reduce snoring loudness or frequency, and bed partners don’t report noticing a difference either.
MADs, by contrast, produce measurable reductions in snoring events and improve quality of life for both the snorer and the person next to them. Long-term compliance is solid: 76% of users stick with them after one year and 65% after four years. You can buy over-the-counter boil-and-bite versions for $30 to $100, though custom-fitted devices from a dentist tend to be more comfortable and effective. Two-piece designs that allow some jaw movement are generally better tolerated than rigid one-piece versions. The main side effects are jaw soreness and excess saliva, both of which usually fade within a few weeks.
Throat and Tongue Exercises
Strengthening the muscles that go slack during sleep can reduce snoring over time. This approach, called myofunctional therapy, involves simple daily exercises that tone the tongue, soft palate, and throat. A basic routine takes about 10 minutes and is done twice a day:
- Tongue slide: Press the tip of your tongue against the top front teeth, then slowly slide it backward along the roof of the mouth. Repeat five times.
- Tongue stretch: Stick your tongue out as far as possible, trying to touch your chin while looking at the ceiling. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Repeat five times.
- Chewing motion: With your mouth closed, go through the motion of chewing gum while humming. This engages the palate and throat muscles together.
These exercises won’t produce overnight results, but consistent daily practice over several weeks can reduce both the frequency and volume of snoring. They work best for mild to moderate snoring and are worth combining with other approaches.
Bedroom Environment Fixes
Dry air irritates the nasal passages and throat, causing tissues to swell and making vibration more likely. Keeping bedroom humidity between 30% and 50% with a humidifier can help, particularly in winter or in dry climates where heating systems pull moisture from the air. This won’t cure snoring caused by structural issues, but it can reduce the contribution of nasal congestion and throat dryness.
Alcohol is another environmental factor people overlook. It relaxes throat muscles beyond their normal resting state, which is why someone who doesn’t usually snore might start after a few drinks. Avoiding alcohol for three to four hours before bed makes a noticeable difference for many people. Sedating medications, including some antihistamines and sleep aids, can have the same muscle-relaxing effect.
When a Medical Device Is Needed
For moderate to severe snoring, especially when it’s accompanied by pauses in breathing, gasping, or excessive daytime tiredness, CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) therapy is the most effective treatment. A CPAP machine delivers a steady stream of air through a mask, keeping the airway open throughout the night. It virtually eliminates snoring and breathing interruptions.
The catch is comfort. Up to 50% of people prescribed CPAP struggle to use it consistently. Custom oral appliances fitted by a dentist are the main alternative, with nonadherence rates of only 10 to 24%. In one study tracking patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea, the discontinuation rate for oral appliances was just 10%, and users wore them an average of 6.4 hours per night. Oral appliances don’t open the airway quite as effectively as CPAP (CPAP reduces breathing events by about 6 more per hour), but a device someone actually wears every night beats one that stays in the drawer.
Surgical Options and Their Limits
Surgery is typically a last resort after other treatments have failed or when a clear structural problem is identified. The most common procedure, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), removes excess tissue from the soft palate and throat to widen the airway. It frequently improves snoring, but only about 40% of patients with sleep apnea see major improvement in their breathing disruptions. Variants of this surgery can be performed as outpatient procedures using a laser or a radiofrequency probe (somnoplasty), though it’s unclear whether their long-term results match traditional UPPP.
A more aggressive option, maxillomandibular advancement, surgically repositions both the upper and lower jaw forward to permanently enlarge the airway. Published results suggest higher success rates than UPPP, but it’s a significant surgery with a longer recovery. Newer approaches like hypoglossal nerve stimulation, which uses an implanted device to keep the tongue from collapsing backward, have shown promise for select patients. Other procedures, including tongue reduction and soft palate stiffening implants, have not demonstrated consistently high success rates.
Recognizing When Snoring Signals Something More
Not all snoring is harmless. Obstructive sleep apnea, where the airway completely closes repeatedly during the night, affects breathing, oxygen levels, and long-term heart health. A few signs suggest the snoring may be more than a nuisance: the person stops breathing for seconds at a time (a bed partner often notices this first), they gasp or choke during sleep, they wake up with headaches, or they feel exhausted during the day despite a full night’s sleep.
Clinicians use screening tools that flag risk based on factors like loud snoring, daytime tiredness, observed breathing pauses, high blood pressure, BMI over 35, age, neck circumference, and male sex. Scoring high on several of these factors indicates a meaningful chance of moderate to severe sleep apnea, which warrants a sleep study rather than just home remedies. The distinction matters because untreated sleep apnea carries cardiovascular risks that simple snoring does not.