A blocked nose can often be brought on by an allergy, a likely cause of which is dust.
Dust gathers in household environments due to flaking skin. The allergy is not due to this dust, but to the dust mites it attracts.
Invisible to the naked eye, these microscopic arachnids feed on skin flakes. The waste they produce contains proteins which are a major cause of allergic symptoms in humans [1].
If you are susceptible to these dust mite allergens, then breathing through your nose may become difficult. A blocked nose can cause you to snore in several ways:
If you suspect that allergies are causing your snoring, ask yourself the following:
To stop allergies ruining you and your partner’s sleep, the key is to clean and clean thoroughly:
Get the vacuum cleaner out more often and vacuum those forgotten places in your bedroom that have trapped years-worth of dust. You’d be amazed at where dust can get. Remember, vacuum cleaning a room is all very well and good if the dust isn’t fired straight back out again. Make sure your vacuum cleaner has an in-built HEPA filter to trap the dust you suck up.
Air purifiers can be very effective at ridding your home of a host of microscopic allergy triggers, including dust mites. There are many types, shapes and sizes. Check out SnoreLab’s recommended air purifier with a true HEPA filter to get rid of 99.97% of harmful particles from your room.
Dust can accumulate when furniture stays in the same place for a while. Engage in some anti-snoring feng shui to reveal those places where dust can hide and make your snoring worse. Whilst this may agitate the dust in the short-term, wait a bit and then simply deploy the vacuum cleaner again.
As well as frequently washing bed covers, it is also a good idea to wash the pillows and duvet too as they can also trap dust.
Once you are sure your bedding is clean, invest in some allergy-proof bedding covers to prevent the dust from returning.
Just as dust can hide on furniture, it can hide also hide on your mattress. Flip it and clean it every once in a while, and consider a mattress protector.
If your dust allergies are really affecting you and making your snoring intolerable, it might be time to get rid of the carpets in your home. The drastic measure could make drastic differences to your snoring.
Drapes/curtains are another place that dust and dust mites love. Roller blinds with simple designs and hard surfaces will trap dust less and are much easier to clean
After time, even hard surfaces will start to accumulate dust and dust mites. Giving them a wipe down with a damp cloth every now and then is a great way to keep them dust-free.
Cleaning allergies out of your life isn’t just about cleaning your environment, it’s also about cleaning your body, specifically your nose. If your nose is stuffy, rid yourself of allergens trapped in nasal mucus with a neti pot. This snoring remedy uses salt water with the assistance of gravity to flush out your nose and ease congestion.
Shop for SnoreLab’s recommended neti pot starter kit and read our guide to neti pots
Allergies can make the nights an unpleasant experience for you and your partner if a blocked nose makes your snoring worse. If you are a hay fever sufferer, the outdoors is a trial; with dust allergies, the indoors is no better. Hopefully, by following these tips, you can banish dust and snoring from your bedroom for good.
Make sure to have a read of Jenny’s story, a SnoreLab user who discovered a dust allergy was causing her snoring and had a dramatic reduction with these techniques.
