Worried that your partners snoring is driving your apart?

Anyone can suffer from snoring, from small children to the elderly, and while many people only have a minor version of the condition, serious snoring can indicate sleep Apnea which can be torture for sufferers, and their respective partners. Snoring is one of the top contributing factors behind failed marriages. Why not spare yourself an expensive divorce and invest in a mattress that can save your marriage in more ways than one? 

So what is Sleep Apnea?

The Greek word apnea literally means "without breath", and sleep apnea is the term given for when people stop breathing intermittently during their sleep.

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) is caused when airflow ceases to reach the lungs during sleep and is said to affect 4% of men and 2% of women. If a sufferer experiences periods of stopping breathing for greater than 10 seconds at any given time, more than 5 times within an hour, the Sleep Apnea is then classed as clinically significant. People with Sleep Apnea usually are, and appear very sleepy during the day, resulting in irritability due to the fact they have not had a good nights’ sleep. During a Sleep Apnea episode, the brain will wake you up to ensure your body can react and continue breathing; this is often represented by a loud snore.

Can specific beds/mattresses improve Sleep Apnea?

As it's preferable for sleep apnea sufferers to sleep on their side, a softer mattress that supports sleepers' hips and encourages them onto their side may help them get a good night's kip. However, because apnea sufferers are likely to be heavier than regular sleepers, it's important not to go too soft. To fully understand how soft a mattress will feel to you and your partner's weight, we recommend you use our mattress firmness rating tool when browsing.

Research on Sleep Apnea does also indicate that an adjustable bed may be a viable option in order to reduce the effects of Sleep Apnea. The reasoning behind this is because your head is placed at a higher elevation than your feet ensures that your tongue gets released from the back of your throat, allowing your airways to relax, therefore opening them. Most adjustable beds will allow you to incline and recline the head and legs of the bed, giving you the option to lie flat, or upright. Creating an incline on an adjustable bed will ensure that you are propped up in a comfortable position, altering the direction of gravity, removing the obstruction to your windpipe.

As well as being able to increase the amount of oxygen to your brain and body, the results should also reduce snoring, allow you and those around you a more peaceful nights’ sleep. Improving sleep quality, on the whole, will certainly have a positive effect on your health; although an adjustable bed won’t cure Sleep Apnea, the research supports the positive improvement on some types of OSA.