Hypnosis for Snoring

When treating snoring, hypnotherapy takes a holistic approach and deals with the physical causes (being overweight, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking), as well as using unconscious strategies, such as direct suggestion, to help the snorer to stop sleeping on their back. And as snoring is primarily a problem for the person sharing a bed with a snorer, they too can be helped by desensitising them to the sound of snoring and giving them suggestions that the sound will simply help them to go into a deep sleep.

Please note that if you suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea, which causes breathing to stop for short periods during the night, hypnotherapy is not a suitable treatment as this condition, which is characterised by loud snoring, can lead to an increased risk of heart failure and stroke.

THE EVIDENCE?
In article published in The Independent in January 2007, Harley Street psychiatrist Dr Tom Kraft said that snoring can be treated with hypnotherapy by suggesting under hypnosis that the sufferer turns on his side every time he begins to snore. 'I have reported on the case of a 53-year-old man who came to see me after his snoring led to his wife throwing him out of the bedroom,' he says. 'After I treated him, his snoring went, and he was allowed back in the bedroom, for which he was eternally grateful. After ten sessions, the patient no longer snored, and when he was followed up later, the improvements had been maintained.'

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