Question: why do we snore when we sleep?

Hayley Moulding answered on 14 Mar 2016:

Great question. There are lots and lots of reasons why we snore. Some people have really small airways from their nose down to their lungs, so when they take a big breath, it is harder to e squeeze the air into their lungs. Some people have things like their tonsils blocking their airway too. If you have really big tonsils,, when you are lying down they can block the airway. Don’t worry, you would know if you did. This means they can get in the way and cause a snoring noise when air brushes past them. Some people who are overweight snore because their chest is being pushed in a bit. So what happens is there is a lot of pressure on their lungs and it can lead to the airway being crushed. Imagine you have a hose pipe. If you squeeze the pipe between your fingers you stop the water coming out. That is what happens if the airway is squeezed together – the air doesn’t come out properly, it as it tries to force it way out, it makes a funny noise when the pressure is released.