You can reduce or eliminate your partner’s snoring through a combination of sleep position changes, lifestyle adjustments, and targeted devices. The right approach depends on what’s causing the snoring in the first place. In most cases, the sound comes from relaxed tissues in the throat, tongue, and soft palate vibrating as air squeezes through a narrowed airway during sleep. The narrower the airway, the louder the snoring.
Why Your Partner Snores
When someone falls into deep sleep, the muscles in the roof of the mouth, tongue, and throat relax. These sagging tissues partially block the airway, and as air forces its way through, the tissues vibrate and produce sound. Several factors make this worse: carrying extra weight (which adds tissue to the back of the throat), having a naturally thick or low-hanging soft palate, enlarged tonsils, chronic nasal congestion, or a deviated septum.
Sleeping on the back is one of the biggest culprits. Gravity pulls the tongue and soft tissues backward, narrowing the airway further. This is why someone who barely snores on their side can sound like a freight train when they roll onto their back.
Get Them Off Their Back
Positional therapy is one of the simplest and most effective first steps. Research published in Sleep Medicine Research found that switching from back sleeping to side sleeping cut the total snoring rate by roughly 64%. That’s a dramatic reduction from a change that costs nothing.
A few practical ways to make this happen:
- Tennis ball method: Sew or tape a tennis ball into the back of a sleep shirt. It creates enough discomfort to prevent rolling onto the back without fully waking the sleeper.
- Wedge or body pillow: A full-length body pillow helps maintain side positioning throughout the night. Some people also elevate the head of the bed by four to six inches, which reduces the gravitational pull on throat tissues.
- Positional sleep devices: Wearable bands that vibrate gently when they detect back sleeping can train side-sleeping habits over weeks.
Alcohol, Weight, and Other Lifestyle Factors
Alcohol relaxes the muscles that keep the airway open, causing the walls of the throat to collapse more easily during sleep. This worsens both snoring volume and frequency. If your partner drinks in the evening, cutting off alcohol at least three to four hours before bed can make a noticeable difference.
Weight is another major factor. Extra tissue around the neck compresses the airway. A neck circumference greater than 17 inches for men or 16 inches for women significantly increases the risk of airway obstruction during sleep. Even a modest weight loss of 10 to 15 pounds can reduce the amount of tissue pressing on the airway and quiet snoring considerably. This won’t produce overnight results, but it’s one of the most reliable long-term fixes.
Smoking irritates and inflames the membranes in the nose and throat, increasing congestion and narrowing the airway. Sedating medications, including some antihistamines and sleep aids, relax throat muscles the same way alcohol does.
Devices That Actually Help
Mandibular Advancement Devices
These mouthpieces push the lower jaw slightly forward during sleep, which pulls the tongue and soft tissues away from the back of the throat and opens the airway. They’re one of the best-studied anti-snoring tools available. In a long-term survey published in the European Respiratory Journal, 93% of ongoing users reported at least a 50% improvement in snoring, and 64% also reported significant improvement in daytime sleepiness.
The tradeoff is comfort. About a third of users experience jaw discomfort or joint pain, and some notice changes to their bite over time. Custom-fitted versions from a dentist tend to be more comfortable and effective than over-the-counter boil-and-bite models, though they cost more. Most people adjust within a few weeks.
Nasal Strips and Dilators
External nasal strips work by physically widening the nasal passages, improving airflow through the nose. They’re inexpensive, drug-free, and easy to try. The catch is that they only help when the snoring originates from nasal resistance, such as congestion or a narrow nasal valve. If the snoring comes from the throat or soft palate collapsing (which is the more common cause), nasal strips won’t do much. They’re worth a trial run, but don’t expect miracles if nasal congestion isn’t the primary issue.
Optimize the Bedroom Environment
Dry air irritates nasal passages and the throat, increasing congestion and making snoring worse. Running a humidifier in the bedroom to keep humidity between 40% and 45% helps keep airways moist and open. This is especially relevant in winter months or air-conditioned rooms where indoor air tends to be dry. Keeping the bedroom free of dust and allergens also helps, since allergic swelling in the nasal passages restricts airflow. Wash bedding weekly in hot water and consider replacing old pillows that harbor dust mites.
Protecting Your Own Sleep
While you work on reducing your partner’s snoring, your sleep matters too. Snoring typically reaches 60 to 70 decibels, roughly the volume of a vacuum cleaner. Earplugs with a noise reduction rating around 24 to 27 decibels can bring that down to a manageable level, especially soft silicone models designed for side sleepers. White noise machines also help by masking the irregular, jarring quality of snoring with a consistent background sound. These aren’t long-term solutions to the snoring itself, but they can save your sleep (and your relationship) while other changes take effect.
When Snoring Signals Something Bigger
Not all snoring is harmless. Obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where the airway completely closes during sleep and breathing stops repeatedly throughout the night, affects an estimated 30 million adults in the United States alone. The key warning signs to watch for in your partner are pauses in breathing during sleep, choking or gasping sounds, excessive daytime fatigue despite a full night in bed, and morning headaches.
A simple screening tool used by sleep specialists asks about four observable signs: loud snoring (audible through closed doors), daytime tiredness, observed breathing pauses, and high blood pressure. When two or more of those are present alongside a large neck circumference, a BMI over 35, or male sex, the risk of sleep apnea is high. If your partner shows these signs, a sleep study can confirm the diagnosis. Untreated sleep apnea raises the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, so what starts as a snoring complaint can end up being an important health discovery.
For many couples, snoring improves significantly with a combination approach: side sleeping, limiting alcohol before bed, managing weight, and using a mouthpiece or humidifier as needed. The key is identifying whether the snoring is coming from the nose, the throat, or both, and targeting the right fix accordingly.