Sleeping next to someone who snores isn’t just disruptive to your sleep. It can also be a sign that your partner isn’t sleeping well or breathing normally at night. Sometimes, snoring is linked to sleep apnea, a condition that causes repeated pauses in breathing during sleep. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to serious health problems, including hypertension (high blood pressure) and congestive heart failure. However, not all snoring is caused by sleep apnea.

With almost 70 percent of Americans who share a bed saying their bed partner snores, snoring is far from uncommon. But when does snoring become a health concern? Read on to find out what you should look for.

The Difference Between Snoring and Sleep Apnea

Snoring and sleep apnea aren’t the same, although snoring can be a symptom of sleep apnea. The main difference is that snoring is a sound caused by partially blocked airflow, while sleep apnea involves repeated pauses in breathing during sleep.

What Is Snoring?

Most people know the sound of snoring when they hear it, but what causes snoring? Snore sounds happen when air flows through the relaxed tissues in a person’s throat or airway, which causes them to vibrate. The vibrations create a hoarse, harsh, or raspy sound that can be extremely loud or barely noticeable.

Some structural features in the mouth and throat can make snoring more likely:

• A deviated septum (when the bone and cartilage that divides the nasal cavity and/or nostrils is off-center)
• Enlarged soft palate (the fleshy, muscular back part of the roof of your mouth)
• Enlarged tongue
• Rhinitis (inflammation in the nose)
• Overbite or recessed lower jaw
• Excess body fat

Almost everyone snores from time to time, but some people snore every night. Snoring is a recurrent issue for around 30 percent of men and 10 percent of women, and people are more likely to snore as they age.

What Is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a type of sleep apnea that happens when a person’s breathing repeatedly stops at night because of an obstruction (blockage) in their throat or airway. These blockages occur when the tissues surrounding the airway collapse on each other, stopping or pausing the flow of air.

Snoring associated with OSA can be loud and disruptive. However, snoring from OSA is also coupled with pauses in breathing that interrupt the sleep cycle and cause the person to wake up frequently throughout the night, even if they’re not aware of it.

The repeated breathing pauses reduce oxygen intake, causing a lack of oxygen in the brain and body. Over time, the lack of restorative sleep and adequate oxygen can lead to long-term health problems.

Signs That Snoring Might Come From OSA

Snoring may be a sign of OSA if it happens with other sleep apnea symptoms. If your partner snores a lot, watch out for these other warning signs of OSA and conditions associated with OSA:

• Daytime fatigue or sleepiness — Your partner might feel very tired during the day because their sleep is interrupted by OSA.
• Choking or gasping for air — Snoring may not be the only sound you hear from your partner at night. It may also sound like they’re choking or struggling to breathe.
• Morning headaches — Morning headaches are common in people with OSA, likely because of poor sleep and low oxygen levels in the brain.
• Morning dry mouth and sore throat — Your partner’s throat may be dry in the morning because of gasping for air.
• Mood changes — OSA can occur with irritability, depression, or a low sex drive.
• Hypertension — Up to 40 percent of adults with high blood pressure have some form of sleep apnea, too.
• Obesity or overweight — Excess body weight is a major risk factor for OSA, so if your partner snores and has a higher body weight, they may have OSA.

Snoring is often one of the earliest OSA symptoms to appear, so you shouldn’t rule out the possibility of sleep apnea if snoring is the only symptom you’ve noticed so far.

Snoring may be an early OSA symptom, so don't rule out the possibility of sleep apnea if snoring is your only symptom.

When To See a Doctor

You should encourage your partner to see a doctor if their snoring comes with any of the OSA symptoms and associated conditions listed above. Medical tests can confirm a sleep apnea diagnosis so your partner can get the treatment they need, or rule out a sleep apnea diagnosis to put your mind at ease.

Why It’s Important

When you delay OSA testing and treatment, you increase the chance that complications will become more serious. In many cases, treatment for sleep apnea can improve symptoms and help lower the risk of long-term health problems.

When you delay OSA testing and treatment, you increase the chance that complications will become more serious.

Some of the most serious complications of OSA include heart problems such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure, and heart attacks. People with sleep apnea are also at a higher risk of stroke and type 2 diabetes. These complications can be life-threatening, especially when OSA is undiagnosed and unmanaged.

OSA can also affect safety during the day. Poor sleep and daytime drowsiness can raise the risk of a car accident if your partner becomes too sleepy to drive safely.

Sleep Apnea Diagnosis

Your partner’s healthcare provider reviews their medical history and takes note of symptoms that might indicate sleep apnea, including snoring. They also examine their mouth, neck, and throat for physical features that might cause a blockage during sleep.

Your partner may be referred to a sleep clinic for polysomnography (an overnight sleep study). A polysomnogram is a night-long test during which a sleep specialist directly observes and evaluates your partner’s sleep. During the sleep study, the sleep specialist monitors your partner’s brain waves, heart activity, breathing, and blood oxygen to identify signs of OSA or other sleep disorders.

Home sleep testing may be a more accessible option for diagnosing OSA. A sleep technician interprets the information from the home monitoring device and reviews the results with you during a follow-up visit.

Treatments for Snoring and Sleep Apnea

Treatments for snoring and sleep apnea aim to improve breathing at night by reducing obstructions and widening the airway. Lifestyle changes are often the first step in managing OSA. These changes can help some people breathe better at night and may make OSA less severe.

Treatments for Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Treatments for sleep apnea don’t just improve sleep quality and prevent health complications — they can improve a person’s overall quality of life. Plus, if your partner’s sleep apnea and snoring are well-managed, you might sleep better, too.

Treatments for sleep apnea improve sleep quality, prevent health complications, and improve a person’s overall quality of life.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the most effective treatment for sleep apnea. CPAP machines deliver a continuous stream of air through a mask worn over the nose or nose and mouth. The air pressure prevents tissues in the upper airway from narrowing or collapsing.

If your partner is unable to tolerate CPAP therapy for any reason or is just unwilling to use a CPAP machine, alternative treatments for sleep apnea are also available. Dentists can make custom oral appliances that shift the jaw or tongue to hold the airway open at night. Oral appliance therapy may also help with snoring that isn’t related to OSA.

Lifestyle changes are also commonly recommended for managing sleep apnea and lowering the risk of long-term health complications. These may include losing weight (if recommended), avoiding alcohol before bed, and sleeping on the side instead of the back.

When all other strategies fail, doctors may recommend surgery to treat OSA. Some surgeries can address structural irregularities in the mouth, throat, and airway that contribute to breathing problems at night.

One newer surgical option involves implantable devices for hypoglossal nerve stimulation, which activate muscles to move the tongue and open the airway in response to breathing pattern changes.

How To Prevent Snoring

People who snorer but don’t have OSA can try these strategies to reduce snoring:

• Avoid alcohol for a few hours before bed if you drink.
• Ask your healthcare provider if medicines that make you sleepy could worsen snoring. Do not change your medicine schedule without medical advice.
• Sleep on your side instead of your back.
• Raise your head using a wedge pillow or by elevating the head of the bed (not by stacking pillows).
• Talk with a healthcare provider about treating nasal congestion, such as with a nasal steroid spray, if a stuffy nose is part of the problem.

If your partner’s loud snoring continues to keep you awake at night, consider sleeping in separate rooms, using a white noise machine, or using earplugs to block the sound.

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On MySleepApneaTeam, people share their experiences with sleep apnea, get advice, and find support from others who understand.

Have you noticed sleep apnea symptoms along with your partner’s snoring? Let others know in the comments below.