Who wouldn’t want to stop snoring? It’s frustrating not just for the sleeper but for everyone else involved, it’s often embarrassing and it’s certainly not pleasant. Snoring was once considered a minor issue, no more than a nuisance. Today, medical science teaches us that snoring can be quite dangerous if it is related to sleep apnea.
Not Every Solution Is The Right Solution
We have gadgets and devices for everything nowadays and we have over-the-counter solutions for almost every little issue that affects us. Snoring is no exception. We are showered with television and online ads for devices, aids and solutions that promise to make your snoring go away forever and restore your (and your family’s) good night’s sleep once and for all. But do they all work? Hardly. Like with every other thing that gets put out on the market, snoring aids range from completely ineffective to miraculous. The trick is to get involved, get informed, consult some experts and read some reviews and you should easily find a snoring device that works for you.
First of all, let’s see some of the proposed snoring solutions and aids that do NOT work. Home remedies and traditional cures are always a hit or miss, regardless of the issue. When it comes to snoring, some of the popular solutions include olive oil, cardamom, nettle, turmeric, garlic, honey and chamomile. While all of these cures are actually good for you one way or another (garlic is a terrific natural antibiotic, olive oil is good for your heart, and chamomile has a mild sedating effect…) none of them actually work for a person with serious snoring issues. They may work occasionally if your snoring is caused by a common cold, but that’s not the kind of snoring we’re talking about right now.
Snoring Aids That Actually Stop Snoring
Our advice is to skip these harmless but ineffective home remedies and bring out the big guns. Here are some of the snoring aids that have really been proven effective.
Nasal Dilators
Nasal dilators are among the snoring aids that have actually been FDA-approved for the treatment of snoring and sleep apnea. 
These small devices are shaped like cones that you insert in each nostril before going to bed. They work by keeping your nasal valves open and allowing the free passage of air so you wouldn’t have to resort to mouth breathing in your sleep. There are two downsides to this snoring aid – they are only helpful for people whose snoring is caused by narrow or collapsing nasal passages and they have to be replaced each night, which may be expensive (although some brands offer reusable dilators).
Nasal strips work similarly to nasal cones – they keep the nasal valves wide and open, but they are far easier to use since you simply place them on your nose. However, some people say that cones are far more effective than strips.
Oral Devices
There are several types of oral devices for snoring so you should probably be able to find the kind that will help you and your particular problem. However, regardless of the seemingly unlimited number of options and variants, all oral devices can be divided into two categories – tongue retaining devices and mandibular advancement devices. The first kind holds your tongue in a frontal position in your mouth with the help of a suction tube. It sounds a bit scary, like a torture device, but it really works like a charm.
Mandibular advancement devices work by pushing your jaw outwards during sleep, which opens the airways as it pushes the tongue forward in your mouth. These devices also prevent your jaw from opening so you don’t start breathing through your mouth while sleeping.
CPAP Devices
People who have serious sleep apnea swear by these devices. Most of them can’t even imagine sleeping without their CPAP, that’s how good it is. These devices do look scary, especially for the person sharing the bed with you, but you will get used to your CPAP. They are portable so you can take them on vacation, as long as you have a power source at hand.
CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and it works by increasing the air pressure in your throat so that your airways don’t collapse as you breathe in your sleep. It’s basically a machine that works like a pump, supplying gently pressurized air through a tube to a facial mask and into your airways. Despite its slightly scary appearance, the device is actually very quiet and discreet.