The most common causes of snoring include: being overweight; alcohol and sleeping pills; smoking; sleeping position; allergy; nasal stuffiness; an enlarged uvola; collapsing nostrils or your tongue dropping to the back of your throat causing an obstruction.

The first step will be to come and see us for a detailed consultation which will allow us to assess exactly what is causing your snoring. This will last about 30 minutes and will include a physical examination of your nose and/or throat. We’ll ask you about your medical history and symptoms and ask you to fill in an Epworth questionnaire which will help us determine whether or not you are suffering from sleep apnoea.

After your assessment your advisor will go through the various treatments available and explain what results you are likely to achieve.

This depends largely on the reasons of your snoring.

- Being overweight: if you have a collar size of 16½ inches or greater, you may not have the muscle tone needed to keep the airway open sufficiently at night to allow normal breathing. This is way a person with a short fat neck is at an increased risk of snoring. Men tend to get fat around their necks and waists, whereas women seem to put on weight around the thighs. However, this situation very often changes for women following the menopause and by the time women have reached their 70s they are just as likely to be snorers as men of the same age. Weight loss with accompanying fat reduction around the neck area will certainly help to alleviate snoring.

- Sleeping position: while sleeping on your back, your tongue, your chin and any excess fatty tissue under your chin may relax back and squash your airway. Sleeping on your side could prevent this.

- Alcohol: alcohol slows the brain’s responses, causing the muscles to relax even more than during a normal night’s sleep. The added relaxation of the musculature causes the oropharynx to collapse causing snoring. Furthermore alcohol may induce obstructive sleep apnoea (where breathing stops for short periods during sleep) in individuals who are otherwise just snorers. Additionally alcohol causes nasal airway irritation and congestion that increases the airway resistance when breathing.

However if you are not heavily overweight and snore at all time, regardless of your alcohol consumption, your snoring could be caused by a stuffy nose, a blocked nose or an enlarged uvola, for which we offer three different treatments. They are:

Unblocking the nose – Minimally invasive laser treatment under local anaesthetic can be used to treat the problem of a blocked nose in a matter of minutes. The treatment reduces enlarged fleshy ridges or ‘turbinates’ at the entrance of the sinuses and can also correct a deviated septum. For more information click here

Laser Assisted Uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP) – This is a simple procedure that is performed under local anaesthetic and uses a laser to remodel the excess soft tissue that vibrates at the back of your throat. This frees your airways and increases oxygen supply, which not only prevents snoring, but lifts the mood, increases energy levels and can even improve libido. LAUP is the most popular snoring treatment in the UK and over 40,000 procedures have been performed to date.

Bipolar Radiofrequency Thermotherapy (RFITT) – This is a short, gentle treatment that uses a radio frequency to tighten the muscle within the soft palate so that it vibrates less during sleep. The procedure involves numbing the back of the throat with a local anaesthetic and targeting it with a slim pen that emits a high frequency. The heat causes the muscle to tighten both during and after the treatment. The maximum benefit is usually evident about 6 months after treatment.

All three treatments are carried out under local anaesthetic and we do our outmost to put you at ease during your treatment. However you may still feel a degree of discomfort, particularly in case of LAUP. Following the LAUP procedure you will experience a sore throat for around 7-10 days. A course of pain killers will be prescribed.

Approximately 15 minutes.

Some people experience results almost immediately but for the majority of patients results can take up to 6 months.

Unfortunately not everybody will benefit from snoring surgery and we turn away around 40% of our patients. Whether you are suitable for treatment or not will largely depend on the causes of your snoring.

However for the right patient, a treatment to stop snoring can be a life changing experience. Click here to read some of our patients’ stories.

During your free consultation and medical assessment, we will be able to tell whether or not you are suitable.

Which? the Consumers’ Association has concluded that going to a chemist and buying an expensive “cure” for snoring is usually a waste of money. Nearly 2,000 heavily snoring members of the Consumers’ Association took part in the survey and three-quarters of people found them ineffective.

People can spend hundreds of pounds trying to cure snoring, but often find that the snoring aid they bought is not at all effective.Expert have found that for most over the counter products the claims are often exaggerated, the success rate is artificially inflated and the evidence for the success very marginal.

Snoring can be caused by being overweight, drinking alcohol, having collapsed airways, a blocked nose, or by taking some types of medicine such as sleeping tablets before bed. This means products aimed at one cause may not work if the snoring is due to another reason. For example nasal sprays and nasal strips are aimed to keep congested nasal passages open. If your snoring is not linked to nasal blockage, the remedy will fail to work.If snoring is combined with feeling sleepy during the day and experiencing pauses in breathing during sleep, you may be suffering from the more serious sleep apnoea – which affects 10 to 20% of snorers – and should be ruled out before you buy any remedy.

Simply trying out a device without first pinning down the cause of the problem is doomed to failure. This is way it is very important to first try to understand why you snore, before you buy a snoring remedy.

At The Private Clinic we offer a free consultation to help you identify the cause of the problem. The consultation takes approximately 30 minutes during which you will receive detailed information on the procedures we offer as well as a physical examination to assess whether a blocked nose or an enlarged uvula could be the cause of your snoring and to assess whether or not you may be suffering from sleep apnea.

You can book your free consultation online or call 0800 599 9911.

The best way to start is a free consultation.

1. Our helpline advisors will answer any general queries you may have and will be able to make an appointment for you at one of our clinics – in London, Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds – or at one of our consultation rooms across the UK.

2. Your initial consultation will last about 30 minutes . We will ask you about your medical history and your symptoms. The consultation is free and there is no obligation to go ahead with any treatment.

3. If we believe you could benefit from one of our procedures, you will be explained what treatment is most suitable to treat your condition.

4. On the day of treatment, your surgeon will explain once again the procedure and will discuss with you what results you are likely to achieve.

5. The treatment itself takes only 15 minutes.

6. We will contact you to monitor your recovery and a patient coordinator will be available over the phone should you have any question after treatment.

Many of our patients come to the clinic having suffered for a long time. In our experience far too many patients attend the clinics having put up with sleep problems for years.  Call 0800 599 9911 to book your free consultation today.