Sing a song of snoring

There are lots of things that can put a strain on a relationship. One partner suddenly deciding to take up the bagpipes, or Morris Dancing, can create tensions. A troupe of in-laws arriving for an “extended holiday” in your spare room can also generate deeply felt discussions. Just so can one partner’s desire to share their new-found interest in Poole pottery bring a relationship onto rocky ground. Perhaps greater than all these dilemmas though is the problem of the partner who snores but now a new study shows that the answer to problem snoring may just be a warble away.

Snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea essentially are caused by weak muscles in the soft palate and upper throat (the pharyngeal muscles). In theory then anything that strengthens those muscles should reduce snoring which is why a new study sought to see of singing exercises might offer some benefit.

The study involved 60 chronic snorers and 60 people with mild to moderate sleep apnoea. The subjects from each group were either assigned to have no intervention or a program of singing exercises for three months. The exercises was done by CD and could be completed in about 20 minutes each day.

After the three months of the trial the group that had no intervention had, understandably, no improvement. The group who did the singing exercises however, found that they had reduced severity, frequency, and loudness of snoring. As a result they also experienced improved sleep quality.

As a treatment that is easy and without side-effects, singing could be just the salve to soothe the wounds that power-snoring can open up in a relationship. As to what you sing, perhaps you could try Roxy Music’s “Snore than this” or even Bob Dylan’s “Honey, just allow me one snore chance”.