Snoring

Sunlight falling across rumpled bed sheets in the morning

What is it?

Snoring happens when air struggles to move past relaxed tissue in the throat during sleep, causing it to vibrate and make the familiar grinding noise; between 20-40% of adults snore, and it can range from a harmless habit to a sign of a more significant airway problem.¹Loud, frequent snoring (especially alongside pauses in breathing, gasping, or choking sounds) can be a sign of something more significant: obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), where the airway repeatedly narrows or collapses during sleep enough to impact breathing.

Why could this be a problem?

Simple snoring is mostly a nuisance, more for a bed partner than for the snorer. However, OSA is a genuine medical concern. Repeated breathing pauses fragment sleep and drops blood oxygen levels through the night, which over time raises the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and can leave daytime sleepiness severe enough to affect concentration and driving safety.

What can be done?

The first step is finding out which one you’re dealing with, usually with a home sleep study or an in-lab study arranged through our Cape Town practice. Simple snoring often improves with weight management, cutting back on alcohol before bed, and sleeping on your side. Confirmed OSA has effective, well-studied treatment options (from CPAP therapy, oral appliances, positional devices, to, in some cases, surgery), with the right choice depending on severity and the individual.

Resources

This self-screening tool is intended to help identify patterns worth discussing with a doctor; it is not a diagnosis and does not replace a full medical assessment.

Moon glowing through bare trees at night, symbolising quiet reflection

FAQs

Loud snoring combined with witnessed breathing pauses, gasping or choking at night, morning headaches, or persistent daytime fatigue are worth investigating rather than dismissing.

Yes. Waking with a dry mouth, headache, or feeling unrefreshed, and daytime fatigue or dozing off easily are all common clues, even without a witness.

9-38% of the adult population has sleep apnoea.3 It is often under-recognised, under-investigated and under-managed.

Not always. Home sleep apnoea tests are accurate for most people and considerably more convenient.

No; several effective alternatives exist depending on the diagnosis and its severity.

Yes. Being overweight is just one of the risk factors for developing sleep apnoea, but it can occur even in lean individuals.

Yes, and it is more common than people think, often assuming it is just a disease men get.4 It is thought that about 20% of women may have sleep apnoea, and this number increases to 47-67% after menopause.

No. Some wearable sleep monitors can highlight a potential problem with breathing in sleep, but none of them can diagnose or rule out sleep apnoea.

There are three reasons. First, to make sure that it is the right kind of test for your concerns. Second, to make sure that other aspects of your sleep and health are addressed. Thirdly, most sleep labs and medical aids require a doctor’s request form to perform the test.

References

  • Slowik JM, Sankari A, Collen JF. Obstructive Sleep Apnea. [Updated 2025 Mar 4]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2026 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459252/
  • Sowho M, Sgambati F, Guzman M, Schneider H, Schwartz A. Snoring: a source of noise pollution and sleep apnea predictor. Sleep. 2020 Jun 15;43(6):zsz305. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsz305. PMID: 31837267; PMCID: PMC8152862.
  • Iannella G, Pace A, Bellizzi MG, Magliulo G, Greco A, De Virgilio A, Croce E, Gioacchini FM, Re M, Costantino A, Casale M, Moffa A, Lechien JR, Cocuzza S, Vicini C, Caranti A, Marchese Aragona R, Lentini M, Maniaci A. The Global Burden of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Diagnostics (Basel). 2025 Apr 25;15(9):1088. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics15091088. PMID: 40361906; PMCID: PMC12071658.
  • Jehan S, Auguste E, Zizi F, Pandi-Perumal SR, Gupta R, Attarian H, Jean-Louis G, McFarlane SI. Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Women’s Perspective. J Sleep Med Disord. 2016;3(6):1064. Epub 2016 Aug 25. PMID: 28239685; PMCID: PMC5323064.