Best Sleeping Position for Snoring & Mild Apnea

Snoring isn’t just a noisy nuisance for partners or family members—it can also signal that your airway is partially blocked during sleep. For many, snoring is a harmless, occasional occurrence. However, for others, it represents a nightly challenge that leads to restless sleep, daytime fatigue, and sometimes mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a condition that may require attention. If you want to improve your rest and reduce snoring, finding the best sleeping position for snoring can be an important and simple first step.

Sleep position often plays a larger role in managing snoring and mild apnea symptoms than many realize. How you position your body during sleep can significantly affect how open your airway stays and how well you breathe. This guide explores how different sleep positions impact snoring and mild apnea, based on current evidence and expert guidance. With practical adjustments to your sleep habits, you may enhance sleep quality—and restore calm to your nights.

Understanding your sleep posture is a practical first step toward better rest.

Who Benefits From Choosing the Right Sleeping Position?

Understanding Snoring and Mild Sleep Apnea

Snoring occurs when airflow causes relaxed tissues in your throat—such as the soft palate, uvula, or tongue—to vibrate as you breathe. For some, this is an occasional, harmless issue. However, snoring can also indicate mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where breathing briefly stops and starts due to partial airway blockage during sleep.

Common symptoms often include:

• Loud, frequent snoring, especially when sleeping on your back
• Excessive daytime tiredness despite adequate sleep
• Gasping, choking, or pauses in breathing at night
• Tossing and turning, causing fragmented or non-restorative sleep

While snoring and mild OSA can affect adults of any age, they are particularly common among those who are overweight, have larger neck circumferences, or suffer from nasal congestion. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, adults with neck circumferences over 17 inches (men) or 16 inches (women) are more prone to airway obstruction during sleep. For many in these groups, adjusting sleep position is a low-risk, accessible strategy that may reduce symptoms and improve sleep quality.

Choosing the best sleeping position for snoring can help you take practical steps toward more refreshing and healthier sleep.

Why Do Snoring and Mild Apnea Happen?

To understand how sleep position influences snoring, it helps to know what causes it. During sleep, muscles around your mouth, tongue, and throat naturally relax. In some people, this relaxation narrows the airway enough to cause vibration and snoring. In mild OSA, the airway narrows further, leading to brief breathing pauses followed by gasping or choking as breathing resumes.

Back sleeping (the supine position) often worsens these issues. In this position, gravity pulls the tongue and soft tissues toward the back of the throat, increasing airway obstruction risk. Imagine a garden hose that kinks when bent—airflow decreases when tissues fall back and compress the airway.

Other factors that may increase snoring and mild apnea include:

• Alcohol or sedative use before bedtime, which relaxes throat muscles excessively
• Smoking, which inflames airway linings and promotes tissue swelling
• Weight gain, which increases soft tissue volume around the airway, making obstruction more likely

By altering your sleeping position, you may significantly reduce airway collapse, improving airflow and lessening snoring.

Understanding these mechanisms highlights why sleeping position matters for many people.

Best Options: What Is the Best Sleeping Position for Snoring?

Side Sleeping: The Recommended Position

Sleeping on your side is generally considered the most effective way to reduce snoring and mild OSA symptoms. When lying on your side, gravity helps keep your airway open by preventing the tongue and throat tissues from falling backward and blocking airflow.

Both left and right side positions offer benefits. Many experts, however, suggest the left side may provide additional advantages, especially for people with acid reflux, which often worsens during sleep in other positions. The Sleep Foundation reports that side sleeping can reduce snoring intensity by nearly 50% in some individuals, though results vary depending on each person’s condition. Similarly, Hopkins Medicine recommends side sleeping as a first-line approach for managing mild sleep apnea.

For example, a patient with mild OSA experienced a noticeable reduction in snoring and daytime tiredness after switching to side sleeping and using a body pillow to maintain position. While individual results differ, such changes can sometimes help avoid more invasive treatments initially.

Proper Head and Neck Positioning

How you position your head and neck also plays a key role in keeping your airway open. Slightly elevating your head—using a firm, supportive pillow or an adjustable bed frame—may prevent soft tissues from collapsing backward. Gently turning your head to the side rather than letting it fall forward or backward fosters better airflow.

Sleep specialists often recommend contoured cervical pillows to provide targeted neck support, which can reduce throat constriction during sleep.

Why Back Sleeping Is Generally the Worst Choice

Sleeping on your back often worsens snoring and apnea symptoms. Gravity causes the tongue and soft tissues to fall toward the airway, increasing obstruction and vibration.

According to Banner Health, about 60–70% of people with sleep apnea see a significant rise in apnea episodes when sleeping on their backs compared to side sleeping. Additionally, Casper notes that back sleepers often endure more frequent oxygen level drops in sleep, raising cardiovascular risks.

If you tend to sleep on your back, positional therapy techniques can help you avoid this posture and protect your airway health.

Additional Positioning Tips

Beyond side sleeping, you can use practical aids for better positioning:

• A firm, body-length pillow supports your shoulder and prevents rolling onto your back during the night.
• Wedge pillows or adjustable beds elevate the upper body, reducing throat tissue collapse and acid reflux.
• Positional therapy devices, like special alarm shirts or pillows with bumpers, discourage back sleeping. These can ease the transition while training new sleep habits.

Using these aids promotes consistent side sleeping and makes position changes easier.

Side sleeping, supported by proper head positioning and practical aids, offers the most accessible way to reduce snoring in many cases.

Adopting the Best Sleeping Position for Snoring: A Step-By-Step Guide

Changing your sleeping habits isn’t always easy, but a gradual, deliberate approach can help. Here’s how to start adopting the best sleeping position for snoring:

1. Choose the right pillow: Use a firm, thick pillow or full-length body pillow that supports your head and aligns your spine while side sleeping. This reduces neck strain and airway compression.
2. Adjust your mattress: A medium-firm mattress cushions pressure points like shoulders and hips while supporting spine alignment and preventing sinking.
3. Train your body: Place a pillow behind your back or use positional therapy devices to discourage rolling onto your back at night. Consider them gentle reminders to maintain side sleeping.
4. Elevate your head: Slightly raise your head with an extra pillow or adjustable bed settings to help keep your airway open.
5. Maintain healthy habits: Avoid alcohol or sedatives before bed, aim for a healthy weight through diet and exercise, and practice good sleep hygiene to optimize sleep quality.

It may take several weeks before side sleeping feels natural. As sleep specialists note, “Consistency and patience are key—rewiring sleep habits doesn’t happen overnight, but the payoff is restful nights and energized days.”

With time and effort, repositioning yourself during sleep can become second nature.

When the Best Sleeping Position for Snoring Isn’t Enough

For many experiencing mild snoring or OSA symptoms, changing sleep position provides meaningful relief. However, if snoring comes with frequent gasping, choking, or severe daytime fatigue—or if symptoms don’t improve—it is important to seek professional medical evaluation.

Sometimes snoring or apnea stems from underlying causes such as:

• Nasal congestion from allergies or a deviated septum
• Enlarged tonsils or adenoids
• Anatomical features like a small jaw or large tongue

Diagnosis of these conditions requires a healthcare provider’s assessment. If positional changes alone aren’t enough, a sleep study may be recommended to detect moderate or severe apnea. In such cases, treatments including CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) therapy or oral appliances might be suggested in addition to positional therapy.

Sleep position shifts are helpful for many, but persistent symptoms merit professional evaluation.

Other Ways to Manage Snoring and Mild Sleep Apnea

While sleep positioning can be effective, it often works best combined with lifestyle changes and medical treatments when needed:

Lifestyle Modifications

• Weight loss: Losing excess weight may reduce fatty tissue around the throat, lowering obstruction risk. Some studies show that a 10% weight loss can reduce apnea severity by up to 30% in certain cases.
• Avoid alcohol and sedatives before bedtime: These substances relax throat muscles excessively, increasing airway collapse.
• Quit smoking: Smoking inflames airway tissues, leading to swelling and worsened snoring.

Medical Devices and Therapies

• CPAP therapy: Often the preferred treatment for moderate to severe sleep apnea, CPAP delivers continuous airflow to keep airways open. It is typically prescribed after professional diagnosis and may not be necessary for mild cases.
• Mandibular advancement devices: Custom dental appliances designed to reposition the lower jaw forward, reducing airway collapse during sleep.
• Surgery: Rarely needed in mild cases but may be considered to correct anatomical obstructions when appropriate.

Combining positional therapy with lifestyle and medical interventions can provide the best outcomes for many patients.

FAQs: Best Sleeping Position for Snoring

What is the best sleeping position for snoring?
Sleeping on your side is generally the best position to reduce snoring because it helps keep your airway open and prevents tissue collapse. However, individual results may vary.

Can sleeping on my side cure sleep apnea?
Side sleeping can greatly reduce mild apnea symptoms for some people, but those with moderate to severe apnea often need additional treatments.

Is it bad to sleep on your stomach?
Stomach sleeping can reduce snoring for some, but it may cause neck or back discomfort and is usually not recommended long term.

How can I stop myself from rolling onto my back?
Using body pillows, wedge pillows, or positional therapy devices can help you remain on your side during the night.

Are there specific pillows that help reduce snoring?
Yes, firm, supportive pillows designed for side sleepers or wedge pillows that elevate the upper body can promote better airway alignment.

When should I see a doctor for snoring or apnea?
If snoring is loud or persistent, or if you experience choking, gasping, frequent awakenings, or daytime fatigue, you should seek a professional evaluation.

Book an Appointment

If you or your partner continue to struggle with snoring or mild sleep apnea despite trying positional strategies, consider scheduling a consultation with the Sleep and Sinus Centers of Georgia. Our sleep specialists provide thorough evaluations—including sleep studies—and can help you explore comprehensive treatment options to achieve better sleep and healthier nights.

Ready to breathe easier and restore peaceful rest? Contact us today to schedule your sleep consultation!

References

1. Sleep Foundation. Best Sleeping Position for Sleep Apnea.
2. Hopkins Medicine. Choosing the Best Sleep Position.
3. Banner Health. Sleeping Like a Baby With Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
4. Casper. Best and Worst Sleeping Position for Sleep Apnea.

Discovering the best sleeping position for snoring can open the door to more restful nights and better overall health. Try these evidence-based tips, and consult a healthcare provider if you need additional support on your path to improved sleep.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider for diagnosis and treatment.