Snoring and Hay Fever: When Your Nose Is the Problem
Quick Answer: Hay fever and snoring often go together. A blocked or allergic nose pushes you into breathing through your mouth at night, and that makes snoring worse. Treating the nose with saline rinses, antihistamines or a steroid spray can help. But clearing the nose alone rarely stops snoring that comes from the jaw or tongue, and hay fever does not cause sleep apnoea. If snoring persists once your nose is clear, get assessed.
Hay fever and snoring tend to arrive together, and spring on the Peninsula is when I hear about it most. For a lot of people this is the season a partner starts complaining about the snoring again. I am Dr Andre Schertel, Dentist, at Peninsula Snore Clinic in Mt Eliza. When the grasses and the wattle are out and your nose is blocked, snoring often gets louder, and there is a straightforward reason for that.
Why a blocked nose makes you snore
Snoring is a noise made by moving air. When you breathe in during sleep, air travels through the nose and throat. If that airway is narrowed, the air speeds up and becomes turbulent, and it sets the soft tissue at the back of the throat vibrating. That vibration is the sound [1].
A blocked nose feeds straight into this in two ways. First, congestion narrows the nasal airway itself. Second, and more importantly, a blocked nose forces you to breathe through your mouth. Mouth breathing lets the lower jaw and the tongue drop back, and the soft palate flaps more freely, all of which make the throat more likely to vibrate and collapse. So the hay fever does not just block your nose. It changes how you breathe all night.
This is not only my clinical impression. In a large population study that followed people over about ten years, nasal symptoms raised the risk of snoring, and snoring in turn raised the risk of nasal symptoms [2]. The two travel together. If your snoring is clearly worse in spring, your nose is a reasonable place to start.
What helps the nose
If allergies and snoring are worse for you in spring, treating the nose is sensible and often helps. The usual measures are simple and available without much fuss.
- Saline rinses or sprays. A saltwater rinse clears pollen and mucus and can settle a congested nose. It is cheap and you can use it daily.
- Antihistamines. These reduce the allergic response. A non drowsy one during the day is the common choice. Ask your pharmacist which suits you, particularly if you take other medications.
- A steroid nasal spray. For persistent allergic congestion, a corticosteroid nasal spray is often the most effective option, but it works best used regularly over days to weeks rather than as a one off. Your pharmacist or GP can advise.
- Simple bedroom measures. Keeping the window shut on high pollen days, washing bedding, and showering before bed to rinse off pollen can all take the edge off. I found that an air filter running all day long, both at home and work helped a lot with my own symptoms.
If your nose is blocked most of the year, not just in spring, or if one side is always blocked, see your GP. Persistent one sided blockage, or a nose that never clears, can have causes such as polyps or a deviated septum that are worth checking rather than just medicating.
Why clearing your nose may not stop the snoring
Here is the part I want to be honest about, because it is where a lot of people are disappointed. Clearing the nose helps the nose. It does not always stop the snoring.
The reason is that most snoring, and nearly all sleep apnoea, comes from the throat, not the nose. The vibration and the collapse happen behind the tongue and the soft palate. A blocked nose makes that worse, but it is rarely the whole story. If your snoring comes mainly from the jaw and tongue falling back during sleep, you can clear your nose completely and still snore.
So treating hay fever is worth doing, and for some people with mild, nose driven snoring it is enough. For many others it takes the edge off without solving it. If you have chased the nose all spring and your partner is still elbowing you, the snoring is probably coming from further back.
Hay fever does not cause sleep apnoea
This is an important distinction. Hay fever can make you snore, and it can make existing snoring or sleep apnoea louder and more disruptive. But hay fever does not cause obstructive sleep apnoea. Sleep apnoea is a condition where the airway repeatedly collapses and breathing stops for short periods through the night, and it has its own causes, mainly in the structure of the airway and the way the muscles relax in sleep.
You cannot tell the difference between allergy driven snoring and sleep apnoea by how it sounds. The only way to diagnose sleep apnoea is a sleep study, not the symptoms and not a guess [3]. We do not run sleep studies at the clinic. They are arranged through your GP or a sleep physician.
One more practical point. A congested nose can also make a mandibular advancement splint harder to get used to, because an appliance works best when you can breathe through your nose. If you are starting an appliance in spring and your nose is streaming, it is worth getting the hay fever under control at the same time.
When to get your snoring assessed
The rule I give people is this. Treat the nose first if hay fever is obvious, and see whether the snoring settles once your nose is genuinely clear. If it does, good. If loud snoring continues, or if you have daytime tiredness, morning headaches, or your partner has seen you stop breathing or gasp in your sleep, then the snoring is not really about the pollen, and it is worth getting assessed.
Start with your GP. Describe the snoring and any daytime symptoms, and ask whether a sleep study is warranted. If the finding is snoring or mild to moderate sleep apnoea, a custom oral appliance is a well evidenced option, and that is the part I handle. For severe sleep apnoea, CPAP is the first line treatment.
Where I fit in
I have obstructive sleep apnoea myself. I could not tolerate CPAP, and a custom appliance is what worked for me. My training in this area is the Fellowship of Dental Sleep Medicine.
If a custom oral appliance suits you, we take a digital scan of your teeth rather than using putty, and I match the design to your teeth and jaw from a range of appliances rather than fitting everyone with the same one. The all-inclusive fee is $2,000 to $2,500, which covers the assessment, the scan, the custom device, the fitting and every adjustment and review through the first 12 months. We process HICAPS claims on the spot, we accept DVA, TAC and Worksafe, and payment plans are available.
We are at 1299 Nepean Highway, Mt Eliza, serving the Mornington Peninsula, Bayside, Western Port and Frankston. You can read more about the device in my guide on snoring mouthguards, and about the test itself in my guide on what a sleep study involves. If spring comes around every year and hay fever and snoring arrive together, treat the nose first, and if the snoring stays once your nose is clear, come and have it looked at properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can hay fever make you snore?
Yes. A blocked or allergic nose narrows the nasal airway and pushes you into breathing through your mouth, which lets the jaw and tongue fall back and makes the throat more likely to vibrate and collapse [1]. In a long population study, nasal symptoms raised the risk of snoring [2]. If your snoring is clearly worse in spring, hay fever is a reasonable place to start.
Will treating my hay fever stop my snoring?
It might, if your snoring is mainly driven by a blocked nose. For many people it takes the edge off without stopping it, because most snoring comes from the throat rather than the nose. Clearing the nose helps the nose. If you clear it and still snore, the snoring is probably coming from the jaw and tongue further back.
Does hay fever cause sleep apnoea?
No. Hay fever can make snoring and existing sleep apnoea louder and more disruptive, but it does not cause obstructive sleep apnoea, which has its own causes in the airway. The only way to diagnose sleep apnoea is a sleep study arranged through your GP or a sleep physician, not from the symptoms [3].
What is the best treatment for an allergic blocked nose at night?
Common measures are saline rinses, a non drowsy antihistamine, and a steroid nasal spray used regularly rather than as a one off. Simple bedroom steps such as shutting the window on high pollen days and washing bedding help too. Your pharmacist or GP can advise on what suits you, especially if the blockage is there all year or always on one side.
Should I see someone about my snoring, or just treat the hay fever?
Treat the hay fever first if it is obvious, then see whether the snoring settles once your nose is clear. If loud snoring continues, or you have daytime tiredness, morning headaches, or witnessed pauses in breathing, see your GP and ask about a sleep study. Those signs point beyond the pollen.
This article is general information only and is not a substitute for individual medical advice. Obstructive sleep apnoea can only be diagnosed through a sleep study arranged by your GP or a sleep physician, not at our clinic. Individual results vary, and a mandibular advancement splint is not suitable for everyone. If your nasal blockage is persistent, one sided or not settling with treatment, please see your GP.
References
[1] Saha S, et al. A subject-specific acoustic model of the upper airway for snoring sounds generation. Scientific Reports. 2016;6:25730. https://www.nature.com/articles/srep25730
[2] Värendh M, et al. Nasal symptoms increase the risk of snoring and snoring increases the risk of nasal symptoms: a longitudinal population study. Sleep and Breathing. 2021;25(4):1851-1857. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11325-020-02287-8
[3] Kapur VK, et al. Clinical practice guideline for diagnostic testing for adult obstructive sleep apnea: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine clinical practice guideline. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2017;13(3):479-504. https://aasm.org/resources/clinicalguidelines/diagnostic-testing-osa.pdf