The effect of snoring in relationships has become a bit of a running joke – but for those that experience it on a regular basis there is NOTHING funny about it. What can help ?
Marital complaints about snoring are common and they can have significant health implications for both partners as well as for their relationship as a whole. Sleep is crucial to proper cognitive function, physical and mental health. Disrupted sleep can cause impairments in judgment, decision making and learning. It can lead to irritability, anxiety and even depression. However, those are not the only ways those affected by chronic snoring can suffer. It can also negatively impact a relationship. Snoring can foster frustration and resentment between partners which can interfere with intimacy and erode their feelings for one another.
A study by Rush University Medical Center involving 10 married participants evaluated sleepiness, quality of life, and marriage satisfaction among wives whose husbands snored heavily. What did they find? Couples with snoring sleep issues argue more and tend to have more disagreements than other couples. The study also found that those who were living with snoring had a higher divorce rate. I was surprised to hear snoring is the third biggest cause for divorce in the United States, just behind infidelity and financial troubles. This isn't just a problem in the US either. In the UK, snoring is currently considered legitimate grounds for divorce and is estimated to be the second most common cause of divorce in the UK under a list of types of “unreasonable behaviour.”
Is snoring taking a toll on your sleep AND relationship?
But it doesn’t have to get to that point! There are some great, effective natural solutions to snoring, one of them is orofacial myofunctional therapy. Myofunctional therapists are trained to screen for sleep disordered breathing and the therapy they offer has been shown in numerous studies to be effective and have numerous benefits including:
- Reducing snoring both objectively and subjectively
- Reducing the severity of obstructive sleep apnea, often changing the classification from moderate to mild or even none
- Reducing subjective feelings of tiredness significantly
- Increasing time spent in deep sleep
As a result, partners report feeling less disturbed and seeing a reduction in conflict arising from snoring!
So, before you head for a sleep divorce (sleeping in separate rooms) or an actual one….get an comprehensive evaluation with an orofacial myologist. Do it for your health AND your relationship. You can schedule your own comprehensive orofacial myofunctional evaluation here.
To review some the evidence for myofunctional therapy in this regard, check out this helpful link: https://www.snorelab.com/oropharyngeal-exercises-for-snoring-whats-the-evidence/
#healthyevansville #snoring #OSA #obstructivesleepapnea #couplestherapy #evv #functionalface
#sleepwell #livewell #dontignorethesnore
