Snoring is nothing but the sound produced by the vibration of certain parts in your upper airway. When we sleepy, our body muscles, including those in the upper airway, relax and the soft tissues such as the tongue, soft palate, uvula, tonsillar pillars become slack. Sometimes they relax so much that the upper airway partly closes and becomes too narrow for enough air to travel through to the lungs.
When we inhale, the air hits these respiratory structures, causing them to vibrate and create the turbulent sound we call snore. The narrower the airway, the louder the snoring.
Anything that prevents you from breathing through your nose can cause you to snore. This can include congestion from a cold and allergies. Those who have enlarged tongue or excess weight around the neck are more prone to snoring. Snoring is also a symptom of sleep apnea, a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.
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