Sleeping Positions to Reduce Snoring: A Comfortable Starting Point

If snoring is worse when you sleep on your back, trying a comfortable side position may be worthwhile. The aim is to find a position you can maintain comfortably, rather than force yourself into a rigid arrangement of pillows.

Start with the pattern you notice

Ask your partner whether the noise seems different on your back and on your side. Keep the observation simple: position, approximate frequency and any waking or gasping. You do not need an all-night recording to start a useful conversation.

Try one change at a time. If you simultaneously buy a new pillow, change your bedtime and start several products, it becomes difficult to know which change was useful.

Left side or right side?

For a general snoring trial, comfort matters more than a universal instruction to use the left or right side. Advice related to pregnancy, reflux or a heart condition should come from the clinician managing that condition. A snoring article cannot determine your ideal position from those diagnoses alone.

Make the bed work for you

• Check that your head feels supported rather than tipped sharply up or down.
• Use a pillow you already own before assuming a specialist purchase is necessary.
• If a body pillow helps you settle comfortably, treat it as a comfort aid rather than a medical guarantee.
• Stop an arrangement that causes pain, repeated waking or difficulty moving.

Decide what counts as a useful improvement

Review both people’s experience: was there less disturbance, did the position remain comfortable, and was sleep easier to manage? A single quiet night is encouraging but is not enough to establish a lasting result.

If the change is uncomfortable or does not help, there is no need to keep buying larger pillows. A discussion about other contributors may be more useful.

When changing position is not enough

Seek assessment for witnessed breathing pauses, gasping or significant daytime sleepiness. If you have diagnosed sleep apnea, follow your treatment plan even when a different position seems to make you quieter.

Asonor works through lubrication and hydration of the throat mucosa. It does not tighten throat muscles, and it does not replace assessment or treatment for sleep apnea.

Keep reading

• Sleeping position when you have sleep apnea

Sources and further reading

• NHS: Snoring

Published by TannerMedico A/S, the manufacturer of Asonor. This article provides general information for adults and does not replace individual medical advice.