The adenoid part of respiratory tract is the narrowest part of respiratory tract. The adenoids and the soft tissue (soft palate) of the oral palate form the respiratory tract, which is easily blocked and suffocated because there is no bone support. When people are awake, when they encounter bad gas or swim in the water, they will take the initiative to hold their breath for a short time to prevent their bodies from being infringed. As long as they use a little force to make the tongue tense, the tongue will move backwards against the soft palate and close the breathing passage, so that bad gas or water will not enter the respiratory tract. If you don't want to hold your breath during sleep, you will also hold your breath (sleep apnea) when your tongue moves backwards to press the soft palate under the action of external force, which will affect your breathing for a long time and cause other diseases in your body. External forces acting on the tongue are: 1. Self-gravity: when sleeping, the tongue closes and exhausts, forming a vacuum in the mouth, making it difficult for the tongue to lean back, and the tongue that opens its breath falls under the action of gravity; Alcohol can make the muscles of the tongue relax and soften under the action of gravity and fall. 2. External force: When the pharynx is folded, the mandibular muscles collapse and press the tongue back. The higher the sleeping pillow, the greater the folding angle and the heavier the tongue depressor. When sleeping, the tongue moves backward to press the soft palate, which will not make everyone close the respiratory tract and produce breath-holding (sleep apnea) snoring, but it will cause the respiratory tract to narrow and the breathing sound to increase. People with adenoid hypertrophy have a particularly narrow respiratory tract. If the soft palate can't stand the pressure of the tongue, it will completely close the respiratory tract and produce suffocation. Using various methods to prevent the tongue from compressing the soft palate can relieve the obstruction and suffocation of the pharyngeal respiratory tract, but the narrow respiratory tract will make the breathing sound slightly louder than that of ordinary people, and avoid the glands from producing secretions (such as cold and smoking stimulation) and dripping vegetable oil into the nose for local lubrication, and the breathing sound will approach the level of ordinary people.
Two. The Root of Snoring-Adenoid Hypertrophy
Adenoids, which many people don't know very well, are also called pharyngeal tonsils or adenoids. They are hidden in the back of the nasal cavity and form the respiratory tract of nasopharynx together with oral soft tissue. They are lymphoid tissues in the nasopharynx, which are shaped like a half-peeled orange with 5-6 longitudinal cracks on the surface. Adenoids exist after birth, and the largest is about 6 years old. Generally, it begins to shrink after 10 years old. Children are prone to acute rhinitis, tonsillitis and colds. If it recurs, the adenoids will proliferate rapidly. When adenoids are enlarged, they snore during sleep. After adult adenoids atrophy, the size, shape and fissure depth vary from individual to individual. For example, the airway formed by adenoids and soft tissues of the mouth and palate narrows. The adenoid part of the respiratory tract is the narrowest part of the respiratory tract and has no bone support. This part of the stenosis is the root cause of snoring. Do a simple experiment: gently press the muscles of mandibular soft tissue with your thumb, forcing the tongue to move backward and pressing the soft tissue of the upper jaw, so that the nasopharyngeal breathing passage formed by adenoids and soft tissue of the upper jaw is closed, and breathing is immediately blocked and it is impossible to breathe. Experiments show that the breathing passage in this part is extremely narrow and can't stand a little pressure. The pillow is too high, which causes the throat to fold, the fat chin and the old chin to relax. After sleeping, the muscles relax, and the soft tissue of the mandible collapses, which will squeeze the tongue, and the tongue will move backward to press the soft tissue of the oral cavity and block the breathing passage. In addition, breathing with the mouth open and the soft tongue will also make the tongue move backward, compress the soft tissue of the oral cavity and block the breathing passage. Most old people, fat people and drinkers don't snore, while middle-aged people, thin people and non-drinkers snore quite a lot. The key to snoring is whether the adenoids are abnormal and the width of the breathing passage. According to the survey data, genetic family history is a high-risk group for snoring.
Three. Prevention and treatment of snoring
1. Give up drinking, especially those who are obese, middle-aged and elderly and have a family history of snoring.
3. Losing weight and subtracting excess fat from the chin can reduce the pressure on the tongue.
4. Medicine and lubrication can reduce local friction tremor to treat snoring.
5. Surgical treatment is mainly to remove part of uvula and tonsil to increase pharyngeal space.
6. Plasma cryoablation technology can reduce the ablation volume of nasopharyngeal adenoid tissue and reduce tongue hypertrophy.
7. The main principle of ventilator treatment is to wear a small CPAP machine when sleeping, and connect the mask with the ventilator, similar to the principle of blowing balloons to expand the narrow part of the pharynx.
8. Treating the mandible with a snorer in the mouth is limited to an appropriate extension position, and the genioglossus muscle drives the hyoid bone and tongue body to move forward, thus expanding the pharyngeal cavity and avoiding oppressing the soft palate.
9. Prevention and treatment of pillows The pillow method is used to correct bad sleeping posture. A fulcrum (the third fulcrum) is added at the upper end of the human neck, which corresponds to the easy bending position of the pharyngeal breathing passage. By relying on the gravity of the head itself, the breathing passage is straightened, the mandibular soft tissue is tightened and lifted, and the distance between the tongue body and the maxillary soft tissue is effectively widened. Under the action of the three fulcrums, people can't bow their heads freely because of the relaxation of the whole body muscles during sleep, and the soft tissue of the mandible collapses and oppresses the tongue to block the nasopharyngeal breathing passage.
Generally speaking, abstinence treatment for snoring is more effective, but people who lose weight can't persevere and the effect is not obvious; Drug treatment and surgical treatment are repeated and suitable for some people, and surgery is risky and painful; Plasma low temperature ablation technology has good effect and little pain; The ventilator has good treatment effect and high cost; Snoring device has no obvious treatment for foreign body sensation; Good pillow prevention effect and low cost. You can learn about the anti-snoring pillow produced by Liu Chengxing pillow industry in Zhengzhou.