So you live with a snorer, or you are the snorer. We spend a lot of time educating you on the ills and downfalls of apnea, an actual condition that requires medical assistance, and we lighten things up with the importance of not snore shaming your partner (we are all human), but until our mask gets to your house, let’s look on how to embrace your snoring.
It’s Halloween and your sleep depravity might just serve you well in these ways!
Skip the Makeup
With those natural black circles under your eyes, think of the money you will save in face paint! Hollywood artists spend hours in trailers trying to replicate the look you have naturally every morning!
Soundtrack
Record the sounds coming out of your house in the dead of night and play them back on repeat on your front porch. The kids in the neighborhood will be talking about your house for years and balls hit over your fence will go un-retrieved for fear of disturbing the bear that lives within.
ZOMBIES!
On Halloween night just put on some tattered clothes and perhaps a chain around your neck to answer the door. The trick-or-treaters will be spooked to hear you dragging your feet (from being tired) to the door then opening it with your eyes naturally rolled back in your head. How long has it been since you slept well? It shows!
Natural Anger
Any other day your quick temper might be an issue, but tonight it is an asset! Just put in a set of fake fangs and every little thing that sets you off can be considered part of your character.
Seriously though, on November 1st the snoring in your house is back to being an issue! Don’t worry we can help!
]]>Snoring Ruined My Relationship
Couples are meant to stick together through thick and thin, but snoring can push relationships to breaking point.
]]>Snoring Ruined My Relationship
Couples are meant to stick together through thick and thin, but snoring can push relationships to breaking point.
By the numbers:
Listen to some actual quotes from partners who are at the breaking point.
Testimonials
Event organizer Adrian Masheter, 25, sleeps on the sofa most nights because his wine consultant girlfriend of two years, Gabriela Rodriguez, 22, makes so much noise in her sleep.
"At first it was a bit of a laugh and I thought Gabriela’s snoring was just temporary. But as time has gone on and I have spent more nights on the sofa, it is much more of a pain.”
Full-Time mom Christina Koutoula, 31 was so exhausted due to husband Dimitrios’s snoring she moved into the spare room.
"Dimitrios and I have slept apart on and off for years but four months ago I moved into the spare bedroom permanently. I couldn’t take it a moment longer.”
Sales adviser Angela Durrant, 48, from Norwich, is so sleep-deprived because of partner David Bazley’s snoring that she struggles to concentrate at work.
"I’ve often had to explain to my bosses why I’m not feeling my usual self. After being kept awake by David half the night, I struggle to focus because my head is so foggy.”
Single Dad Kevin Reilly was having a hard time finding somebody that would stick around and knew he snored, but never really knew how bad.
“I had never heard this sound until I recorded it. But every person that's slept near me has suffered through it. That sound has ruined countless relationships for me.”
Jane’s husband knew that his snoring was a product of his weight but wasn’t really doing anything about it, so she moved into another room.
“I have a headache all the time, I'm snappy, make mistakes, I look like garbage, I'm biting my nails again, I'm just exhausted. I feel like he should just go on a diet but he is letting our relationship just fizzle out instead.”
Takeaways
We are the last people in the room who are aware of how bad our snoring might be. Unless we engage in conversation with those that we love the most we may never know until it’s too late.
The good news is there are solutions!
Hupnos' innovative sleep mask will be available on Indiegogo next month.
In the mean time you can enter to win a pre-release mask here.
http://promo.hupnos.com/giveaways/hupnos-snore-reducing-sleep-mask-6/
]]>Quality of Sleep and Chronic Back Pain-A Case Study
In mid-2008 French Medical Professionals gathered 101 patients with chronic back pain and set out to determine the effect of broken sleep on said disorder.
The following was published in the European Spine Journal on June 2008.
Abstract
Animal experiments and studies in humans clearly show that the relation between pain (acute and chronic) and sleep quality is two-way: sleep disorders can increase pain, which in turn may cause sleep disorders.
Sleep disorders and chronic low back pain are frequent health problems and it is unsurprising that the two can co-exist. This study was conducted to evaluate if sleep disorders and chronic pain associated are more frequently than one would expect.
The objective of the study was to compare sleep quality in a population of patients with chronic low back pain and a control population. Sleep quality was assessed in 101 patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP) and in 97 sex- and age-matched healthy control subjects using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI; score from 0 (no disorder) to 21]. The French version of the Dallas Pain Questionnaire (DPQ) was used to assess the impact of low back pain on patients’ quality of life. This impact was taken as nil in the healthy controls.
The patients with CLBP and the controls were comparable in age, sex, and height, but mean bodyweight was higher in the CLBP group (70.3 ± 14.5 vs. 61.8 ± 11.4 kg; P < 0.05). The patients with CLBP were also more frequently on sick-leave than the controls (32.3%; n = 31 vs. 0.0% n = 0; P < 0.001). Coffee, tea, and cola intakes were comparable in the two groups. Patients with CLBP had statistically higher scores in all items of the PSQI than the healthy controls. The mean PSQI was 4.7 ± 3.2 for the healthy controls and 10.9 ± 7.9 for the patients with CLBP (P < 0.0001).
Sleep disorders were greater when the impact of CLBP on daily life (the four aspects of the DPQ) was greater [P < 0.0001]). The sleep of the patients with CLBP was significantly altered compared with that of the healthy controls, in proportion to the impact of low back pain on daily life. Our findings do not indicate whether sleep disorders are a cause or a consequence of CLBP but can certainly exacerbate CLBP.
]]>The Anatomy of a Snorer
Most people snore from time-to-time. In some cases it is nothing more than a nuisance to you and your partner. Every so often chronic snoring might be an indicator of something more serious and medical help should be sought out.
]]>The Anatomy of a Snorer
Most people snore from time-to-time. In some cases it is nothing more than a nuisance to you and your partner. Every so often chronic snoring might be an indicator of something more serious and medical help should be sought out.
There are internal (out of your control) and external (within your influence) factors that can contribute to snoring.
Here are some:
Internal:
Mouth Construction: Having a low, thick soft palate can narrow your airway. People who are overweight may have extra tissues in the back of their throats that may narrow their airways. Likewise, if the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate (uvula) is elongated, airflow can be obstructed and vibration increased.
Blocked Nasal: Chronic nasal congestion or a crooked partition between your nostrils (deviated nasal septum) may contribute to your snoring.
Clogged Hose: Some people may have a long soft palate, or large tonsils or adenoids, which can narrow the airway and cause snoring.
In the Genes: Yes, unfortunately your chemical makeup is handed down and your heredity can play a role in your snoring.
External:
Alcohol: Snoring can also be brought on by consuming too much alcohol before bedtime. Alcohol relaxes throat muscles and decreases your natural defenses against airway obstruction.
Positioning: Snoring is typically most frequent and loudest when sleeping on the back as gravity's effect on the throat narrows the airway.
Your Mass: Carrying excess weight significantly elevates your chances of snoring.
Late Night Meals: Late-night eating promotes snoring because the process of digestion also relaxes the throat and tongue muscles.
Smoke: Cigars, cigarettes or pipe tobacco cause inflammation along the tissues (or mucosa) that line your airway. This leads to swelling, causing a buildup of mucus often called post-nasal drip, and narrowing of the airway. As the airway narrows you struggle for your breath and snoring can occur.
If ever you (or your partner) feel like your snoring is something deeper than any external factor you should get checked for any apnea, but rest assured that in most cases you can affect your external factors to help your cause.
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What is Snoring?
Snoring is loud breathing during sleep that sounds like unpleasant rattling, vibrating, or sawing and can cause havoc with people nearby.
]]>What is Snoring?
Snoring is loud breathing during sleep that sounds like unpleasant rattling, vibrating, or sawing and can cause havoc with people nearby.
At the most basic level, snoring occurs in some people because the muscles in the body relax during sleep, allowing these structures to vibrate as air flows by them. When people are awake, these muscles are active, and the structures are much less likely to vibrate during breathing.
The causes of snoring are similar to those that cause a more-serious condition called obstructive sleep apnea. The difference between the two is that sleep apnea involves blockage of breathing at night.
Annoying or Medically Concerning
Snoring is not the same as sleep apnea, although the terms are sometimes confused. About half of people with snoring issues that regularly wakes up other people will have obstructive sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition involving temporary breathing interruptions during sleep. These breathing pauses can lower blood oxygen levels and allow carbon dioxide to build up in the body.
Snoring can be a precursor to apnea and if there is ever a concern, the advice of a medical professional should be sought.
Who Snores?
Around 45% of adult men and 30% of women snore regularly. Certain physical attributes can make snoring more likely. Snoring is more common in men than women, and carrying excess body weight increases the risk of snoring.
One in three women snore during pregnancy, due to increased body weight, hormone fluctuations, increased pressure on the diaphragm and swelling of the nasal passages.
Babies and newborns snore due to small nasal passages, though this is usually outgrown.
The Fix
Unfortunately you are generally sound asleep while other struggle with your affliction. The best way to remedy non-medical snoring habits is to understand exactly what is happening.
This is where we come in! Hupnos monitors your position and listens for snoring. Hupnos will gently vibrate so you move positions or will change your exhalation pressure so you stop snoring. Most importantly Hupnos will analyze and track your sleep results and find which factors hurt and which remedies help you to sleep perfectly allowing you to restore peace in your bedroom!
]]>Not all snoring aids are created equal!
By now, if your (or your partners) snoring has brought you to researching a solution, and in turn brought you to Hupnos, you must be aware that there are quite a few “solutions” for you to choose from.
Some are bulky and cumbersome while others are small and ineffective. It seems as though a comfortable balance had not been discovered, until we came on the scene.
We concentrated our research around the tipping point between comfort and effectiveness while incorporating technology to collect useable data.
In our efforts we have isolated the types of categories that snoring aids fall into and the areas of snoring solutions offered. The areas include
Here is what we have found:
Disposable Strips/Nose Plugs
These devices are small, unassuming, uncomfortable and therefore relatively ineffective in long-term relief from snoring
The only category that they truly satisfy is Physical Intervention.
Mouth Guard/Chin Strap
Not unlike the plugs and strips, these attack snoring from the source but at the cost of comfort. They are much more unsightly than even the strips and are cumbersome to wear while sleeping. You are more likely to remove them in the middle of the night.
Smart Pillow
These are getting closer to satisfying the necessary categories and utilizing technology, in some cases, but are more often just misshapen pillows designed to open airways. Pillows that truly use technology for Snore Recognition tend to run extremely expensive.
Bone Conductive Technologies
These are often earphones or eye pads that detect snoring based on frequency reverberations in the skull and respond with low frequency sonic waves to combat. They are generally designed for comfort and do offer Physical Intervention but do not detect sleeping patterns or positions and do nothing to dilate airways.
CPAP/Auto CPAP
Most people are drawn to these simply because they look the part of the bulky medical intervention, however they offer no other solution than to physical dilate the airways while you sleep and are generally very uncomfortable to wear.
Hupnos
We are the only solution we have found that satisfy all of the five categories of snoring relief that you want and with the use of our app detail your progress or regression so that you can make real changes to daily patterns in order to get the best sleep possible.
The beta units are built and in the homes of some lucky users. Make sure you are signed up to our email list and have sent a message that you are interested in beta testing. We love the feedback and use it to make a better snoring solution.
]]>Our first units are now being made for User Experience Testing. UX is the catchy buzzword for this. This is a first step to ensuring the product feasibility and likability. We’ll get feedback on the units and decide what needs changing or if there are additions needed.All the subassembly is complete- Ready to assemble and apply the labels.
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