Last updated: September 2026
Around two in five UK adults snore, and most of the fixes people try first are the ones least likely to work. The good news is that the causes of snoring are well understood, and the remedies with actual evidence behind them are mostly free. Here is what works, what does not, and when snoring is the symptom that needs a GP rather than a gadget.
Quick answer: The most effective ways to stop snoring are sleeping on your side instead of your back, losing weight if you are overweight, avoiding alcohol in the three to four hours before bed, treating a blocked nose, and quitting smoking. Raising your head and keeping your neck aligned with the right pillow helps keep the airway open. If you snore loudly every night and gasp, choke or stop breathing in your sleep, or you are exhausted during the day despite full nights, see a GP: those are signs of sleep apnoea, which is treatable but should not be managed with snoring remedies alone.
What causes snoring?
Snoring is the sound of soft tissue in the head and neck vibrating as air is forced through a narrowed airway during sleep. When you sleep, the muscles of the tongue, soft palate and throat relax; if the airway narrows enough, the air you breathe makes the relaxed tissue flutter, and that flutter is the noise. Anything that narrows the airway further makes it worse: sleeping on your back (the tongue falls backwards), excess weight around the neck, alcohol (which relaxes the muscles more deeply), smoking (which inflames the airway), and a blocked nose (which forces mouth breathing).
Snoring is extremely common. Our UK snoring statistics page collects the numbers: roughly 15 million UK adults snore, men more often than women, and frequency rises with age and weight.
How do you stop snoring naturally?
Start with position, because it is the fix with the fastest payoff. Most people snore far more on their back than on their side, so training yourself to side sleep is the single best free remedy. The old trick of sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjama top works by making back sleeping uncomfortable; a body pillow or a wedge against your back does the same job more comfortably.
The lifestyle levers come next, and the NHS lists the same four consistently: lose weight if you are overweight, since even a modest loss reduces the tissue pressing on the airway; avoid alcohol in the three to four hours before bed, because it relaxes the throat muscles beyond their normal sleep state; quit smoking, which inflames and swells the airway lining; and sleep enough, since exhaustion deepens muscle relaxation. None of these is glamorous, and together they outperform every gadget on the market.
Can your pillow and mattress affect snoring?
Yes, more than most snorers expect, because both control the geometry of your airway. Side sleeping only works if it is comfortable enough to sustain all night: that takes a pillow tall and supportive enough to keep your neck level with your spine, and a mattress with enough give at the shoulder and hip that you do not roll onto your back to escape pressure. A slightly elevated head position also helps keep the airway open, which is why propping the head end up is a classic anti-snoring measure.
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Do anti-snoring devices actually work?
Some do, for the right snorer, and matching the device to the cause is the whole game. Nasal strips and dilators only help if your snoring starts in the nose, which you can test by breathing with one nostril pressed shut; if the open nostril whistles or collapses, nasal devices are worth trying. Mandibular advancement devices, gumshield-like splints that hold the lower jaw forward, have the best evidence of the lot for tongue-base snorers, and the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association recommends them for that group. Sprays and lozenges that claim to firm the palate have the weakest evidence, and anything marketed as a universal cure is overpromising: a device that fixes nasal snoring does nothing for a tongue-base snorer, and vice versa.
Treating a blocked nose is the unglamorous device-adjacent fix that works: managing allergies, using a saline rinse or a decongestant short-term, and keeping the bedroom aired and dust-mite-managed all reduce the congestion that forces mouth breathing. Our guide to dust mites in your bed covers the bedroom side of that.
When is snoring a sign of sleep apnoea?
When the snoring comes with pauses. Obstructive sleep apnoea means the airway does not just narrow but repeatedly closes, and the pattern to watch for is loud snoring punctuated by silences, then gasping, choking or snorting as breathing restarts, usually reported by a partner rather than noticed by the snorer. Waking unrefreshed, being severely sleepy in the day, morning headaches and poor concentration complete the picture.
If that description fits, see a GP rather than working through snoring remedies: sleep apnoea is common, underdiagnosed and very treatable, but it needs proper assessment. The NHS advises seeing a GP too if simple lifestyle changes have not helped ordinary snoring after a fair trial, since treatment options go well beyond what the pharmacy shelf offers.
How to stop snoring FAQs
Last updated: September 2026
What position stops snoring?
Side sleeping. On your back, the tongue and soft palate fall backwards and narrow the airway; on your side they do not. A supportive pillow that keeps the neck level, and a mattress soft enough at the shoulder to make side sleeping comfortable, are what make the position stick all night.
Can snoring be cured completely?
Often, yes, when the cause is positional, weight, alcohol or congestion, because removing the cause removes the snore. Structural causes such as a deviated septum or large tonsils may need medical treatment. The realistic promise is a large reduction for almost everyone who works the evidence-backed fixes consistently.
Why do I snore every night no matter what?
Nightly snoring regardless of position and habits suggests either a structural cause in the nose or throat or undiagnosed sleep apnoea, especially if you also wake unrefreshed. That combination is a GP conversation rather than a gadget hunt, and effective treatments exist for both.
Is snoring bad for your health?
Simple snoring is mostly a problem for your partner's sleep and your own sleep quality. Snoring with breathing pauses is different: untreated sleep apnoea is linked to high blood pressure, heart problems and daytime accident risk, which is why the gasping-and-pauses pattern always deserves a GP visit.
Do nasal strips stop snoring?
Only for nose-based snorers. If your snoring starts in the throat or tongue base, as most does, nasal strips will not touch it. Test where your snore starts: if breathing through each nostril in turn feels blocked or collapses, nasal devices are worth a try; if not, look at position and a mandibular advancement device instead.
Sources: NHS, Snoring; British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association; NHS, Sleep apnoea.
