Does your partner's snoring keep you up? It could be impacting your health
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In the world of sleep and health
As snoring is relatively common, it is often left untreated and dismissed as a harmless irritation. But according to experts, sleeping next to a snorer could be impacting your health.
Focus and Memory
Prof Ama Johal, a consultant orthodontist and sleep expert at Aerox Health, explains that the partner of a snorer can become "so impacted upon that it's almost a last-ditch effort on their part to get up and go sleep in a separate room because they have to sleep".
He adds: "As humans we physically can't function without that necessity."
During the night, we cycle through different stages of sleep in repeating patterns, usually every 90 minutes. The deeper stages of this cycle are important for physical restoration. If sleep is frequently disrupted, you may spend less time in the restorative stages, meaning you can wake up feeling tired, even if you've spent a lot of time in bed, according to the British Snoring and Sleep Apnoea Association (BSSAA).
Your brain processes and stores information from the day during sleep. Fragmented sleep - which can happen if you're waking up due to a snoring partner - can interrupt this process, impacting your focus and memory. Disrupted sleep can also impact hormone regulation, affecting your energy levels and motivation.
Emotional Impact
Sleep also plays a role in regulating the brain systems involved in stress and emotional response. When it is disrupted, these systems can become less balanced, which may make you feel more irritable and less able to cope with stress.
Personal Stories
Meg Warren, 29, experienced this when her former partner's snoring would keep her up.
She says: "Without fail, after a snoring-induced wake up I would feel on incredibly high alert."
Meg would prod him throughout the night and try to coax him from his back to his side. She says she would wake up "feeling groggy and dazed, sometimes so much so that it would feel like a hangover".
Anna-Louise Dearden, a 52-year-old journalist, says she sometimes sleeps in a separate room from her partner due to his snoring. Having this option allows her to prioritise getting enough rest when the snoring becomes unbearable.