$Unique_ID{BRK00863}
$Pretitle{Respiratory System}
$Title{Does Snoring Mean That One's Tonsils Have Grown Back?}
$Subject{snoring sleep prevention}
$Volume{H-6}
$Log{}

Copyright (c) 1991   Tribune Media Services, Inc.


Does Snoring Mean That One's Tonsils Have Grown Back?


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QUESTION:  I used to snore as a child, and a tonsillectomy solved the problem.
Now my wife tells me I'm snoring again.  Does this mean my tonsils have grown
back?

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ANSWER:  I doubt that the tonsils are the cause of your present problem.  It's
more likely that you're snoring for a different reason now:  simple aging.  As
we grow older, muscles everywhere in the body lose tone, including the ones in
the throat.  Snoring occurs when the tongue falls backward into the airway and
vibrates against soft, floppy tissues there.
     You have several courses of action:

   - Improve your muscle tone with exercise.
   - Lose weight if you need to.
   - Avoid alcoholic beverages within three hours of bedtime, and don't take
     tranquilizers, sleeping pills or antihistamines.  All of these relax the
     muscles that hold the airway open.
   - Sleep on your side.  (A tennis ball sewn into the back of your pajamas
     may help you remember.)
   - Slant the bed so the head is raised.
   - Wear a whiplash collar to keep your chin extended.
   - Let your mate go to sleep first.
   - Check with a physician to make sure that enlarged tonsils are not indeed
     your problem.
   - If you don't have high blood pressure or an irregular heartbeat, and if
     your physician approves, take a diet pill that contains
     phenylpropanolamine at bedtime (Dietac, Dexatrim, others).  If the pill
     keeps you awake, adjust the dosage downward.

     That ought to take care of many of the common reasons for this annoying,
but not funny situation.  If they don't, there may be more at work here
warranting a closer look.  Sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for
short periods during sleep) is also associated with snoring.
     Snorers and those who sympathize with them have invented some 300
stop-snoring devices.  Most, unfortunately, don't work, and if they do it's
because they keep you awake!  However I hope these suggestions will be more
effective.
ÿ
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The material contained here is "FOR INFORMATION ONLY" and should not replace 
the counsel and advice of your personal physician.  Promptly consulting your 
doctor is the best path to a quick and successful resolution of any medical 
problem.
