This is a common occurrence after the festive season and relatively easy to remedy. Let me explain why this may have happened and what you can do to fix it.

Sudden Weight Gain
Overindulging at Christmas is probably as old as Christmas itself. Research studies show that people gain 0.4 kg to 0.9 kg on average over this period, and the larger you are before Christmas, the more you will gain. Interestingly, children seem not to have the same weight gain issues that adults do. It seems to be a learned behaviour that we adopt as we become ‘grown-ups’.

Gaining weight is also associated with the winter season, which appears to be associated with the fact that it is too cold outside to enjoy sports as frequently as during the summer months. Therefore, the energy intake is much greater than the energy expenditure for all those mathematicians out there.

An increase in weight often leads to snoring in those who are close to having this problem anyway. Snoring is caused by the upper airway becoming narrow enough to result in vibrations of the tissues as the air passes over them. Gaining weight constricts our airway passages and can tip the balance towards snoring.

Fortunately, losing weight after Christmas seems to be a relatively common ritual, and often, with the help of New Year’s resolutions, we can reduce the weight and return to that tipping point when snoring is not so antisocial. I would, however, look at this as a slight warning sign that you are prone to starting snoring, and perhaps, if it is weight-related, reducing your weight further might be beneficial. There is also a common occurrence that weight gained over these festive winter months often is not completely lost, leading to a slow increase in overall body weight as the years (and Christmases), go by.


Nasal Stuffiness
There are many more cold and flu illnesses is going around the winter months which generally culminates at Christmas time when families from different parts of the country get together and excitedly spread these viruses around. It often takes one or two weeks for you to display the symptoms at your ‘favourite’ uncle had when you saw him at Christmas.

Nasal obstruction often leads to snoring, and fortunately (despite considerable medical resources), we still do not have a cure for the common cold.

Our only advice currently is to maintain the health of your immune system as much as possible by sleeping plenty, exercising adequately, and eating a balanced diet. If you are vegan or on a restricted diet, perhaps you should also supplement with multivitamins.

When you do have a blocked nose because of a virus, consider using a strong saltwater solution as a douche for your nose. In the UK we commonly use a hypertonic (which means ‘very salty’), Sterimar solution which can be bought over the counter. Spraying this repeatedly can keep the nose clear of mucus whilst also subtly reducing the swelling allowing you to breathe better.

You are really struggling with nasal obstruction, consider two or three days of using a decongestant nasal spray such as Otrivine or Sudafed or going to bed. This often opens up the nose rather well for approximately eight hours. Please be aware that you should not use this for more than three days if at all possible. These medications will reduce the blood flow to your nose and starve the structures of oxygen. Being without oxygen for so long will damage to structures internally leading to what is known as ‘Rebound Rhinitis’ or ‘Rhinitis Medicamentosa’, which is when the single using these sprays becomes effectively addicted to them. It is very difficult to come off these sprays afterwards though only use them for a maximum of three days to avoid these long-term issues.


Just Getting Old
As we age, we gradually lose muscle mass (approximately 3% per year), which may result in reduced tone of the muscles in our throats. The throat muscles are not as tight as before, and with time, they can start flapping around in the wind, leading to snoring.

Women also start losing their hormonal advantage around menopause, and their bodies become slightly less elastic and springy, similar to what male throats are like at a similar age. This is the reason why women and men roughly snore as much as each other after menopause.

Relatively good research shows that exercising the throat and tongue muscles can often reverse snoring, particularly in its early stages. I have provided a video from my YouTube channel that explains these exercises in detail.

Performing these exercises for about five minutes each night before going to bed, maintains the muscular tone in the throat and reduces snoring by approximately 50% in most people.


Could it be Sleep Apnoea?
Before we finish I really ought to say that there is a common misconception that people who have obstructive sleep apnoea have only themselves to blame. Often people with this problem are told to simply lose weight, when the research now points to the fact that sleep apnoea causes the weight gain rather than the other way round. It is incredibly hard for someone with sleep apnoea, sleep deprivation, and physiologically forced into a stressed state to be able to lose weight with any degree of success.

People with obstructive sleep apnoea are partly woken up every few minutes during sleep - and often they have no recollection of this. This creates a significant amount of stress on the system which the body interprets in a rather ‘caveman’ manner. When the body is under stress, it immediately believes us to be going through a period of starvation or lack of resources, which have been the standard reason for stress for almost the entirety of our evolution. It is only in the last hundred years or so, have we, in the developed world, made this almost a thing of the past. So when a body is in a stressed state, it goes into starvation mode, which means it holds onto fat and prevents losing weight as much as possible to protect the body from the perceived impending famine. This is the exact opposite of what we really want, leading to weight gain and worsening obstructive sleep apnoea completing a rather vicious cycle.

I have provided another video from my YouTube channel for more information about this process and the evidence behind it.

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If you would like to know more, please use the links on this page to understand better what the treatment options for these conditions are.

If you would like more information please contact Prof Vik Veer via his team of secretaries:

Private secretary: 0207 458 4584

Email: Secretary@Consultant-Surgeon.co.uk