I don’t know what they’re called. Those things you tape to your nose at night, and it stretches out your nostrils or something. Its supposed to prevent snoring.
Do they work?
-Kris
I suppose it depends on the level of snoring, but we tried them out on Mr. Stuff, and there was no difference. At. All.
He ended up with a CPAP machine after a sleep study. It is the best thing since sliced bread and gift bags. I might love it more than he does, which is going some.
They should, if your breathing troubles are caused by narrowed nostrils, not so much if you’ve got Turbinates from Hell, or some other problem not localized in the nostrils.
My wife didn’t notice a big difference, maybe a little. I found them really uncomfortable and couldn’t sleep with them on.
Those are called breathe right strips and they are crap. Bobotheoptimist went to a Dr. and they they said meh, you don’t have sleep apnea and the snoring isn’t bad enough to get the surgery done. Jerk doctor! One night he quit breathing and I had to jab him to wake up and breath! So I don’t think they work worth a darn.
Most snoring is due to upper airway obstruction at the level of the back of the tongue and soft palate. Breath-rite strips do nothing to change this.
Talk to me about the CPAP machines, please. I’d dearly love to get rid of my snoring.
Forget the strips, what about the throat lubricant? I don’t think my problem is nose related, because it’s always a deep horky back-of-my-throat closing in on itself feeling. This stuff sounds great, but I am, as ever, more inclined to let someone else be the guinea pig than spend the $13.99 on it myself.
Tastes like crap and had absolutely NO EFFECT on my snoring. Which means it worked as well as the breathe-right strips, but didn’t end up glued to my ass in the morning.
CPAP=Continuous Positive Air Pressure. It’s a little air pump connected via a hose to a mask attached to your face with vinyl straps. They work great, unless you have congestion due to a cold or allergy. I’ve been using one since September. Right now, I’m on a CPAP with Breathe-Right strips and Afrin spray. Hopefully, when I can keep the window open again, it’ll just be the CPAP again.
One downside of the CPAP is that it can dry out your nose, mouth and throat to a degree that you’ll have to wake up just to deal with the dryness (Water, Halls throat lozenges, etc.). You can get an attachment to keep moisture in the airflow.
If the CPAP doesn’t work, the next step is an operation that removes your uvula and most of your soft palate. If you have this operation, the CPAP will not work for you anymore (The little trick you train yourself to do to keep from breathing through your mouth when you’re asleep won’t work anymore). Apparently, there are other drawbacks that make this operation worth avoiding, but I honestly don’t know what they are.
CPAP is also a detriment if you don’t sleep alone. I know of one marriage that the thing has broken up (although to be fair, there were other issues). Remember the scene in Sleepless in Seattle where Meg Ryan’s fiance has all sorts of crap in the room to facilitate sleep, and that’s when she decides to dump him for a total stranger? CPAP tends to inspire that a lot.
Hey, maybe your wife has sleep apnea too! Nothing more romantic than two CPAPs humming in harmony!
Krokodil,
I find the humidifier on the CPAP makes a big difference in comfort. You just have to experiment with the thermostat to avoid condensation in the tubing or mask.
A CPAP machine will really help if you suffer sleep apnea, and will not help if you don’t, from my understanding.
Mr. Stuff had severe apnea. His symptoms included stopping breathing while sleeping and then taking great gasping gulping breaths when his body rebelled. As a bonus, he would often kick his legs HARD right before gasping. It was charming, let me tell you.
When he got a sleep study, the technician discovered that he was having 90 “events” an hour. My layperson’s understanding is that he was stopping breathing 90 times an hour. Yipes!
He got a CPAP a few days later and we’ve both slept better since. It keeps his nose and throat open all the time, so he can’t choke himself in his sleep. He feels about 500% better, because he’s getting real sleep. Sleep apnea is also very hard on your heart, from what I understand, so I’m happy that he’s getting it treated.
On review, that was a great explanation a couple of posts up. The humidifier tip is also good - Mr. Stuff finds that very comfortable.
I can’t imagine leaving my husband over the use of a CPAP! It’s not the sexiest thing in the world, but it contributes to his health and my sleep. Totally worth it.
Whether a CPAP is useful after surgery depends on exactly what the surgeons do.
There are many variants on Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty.
Nothing scientific but my wife says the strips work on me. They don’t stop my snoring but she says it isn’t as bad.
I’ve heard of sleep walking, but if you wake up with your breathe right strips glued to your ass, you must be very flexible!
I’ve used a CPAP machine for about 10 years now. I got accustomed to it almost immediately and have slept much better ever since.
The Breatheright strips are amazing when I have really bad allergies or a cold, or even if I judt want to be able to breathe REALLY deeply while I’m doing yoga at home.