Nasal Dilators to Stop Snoring

Nasal breathing is essential for good health and restorative sleep. Constrictions in the nasal passageways, whether from a deviated septum or nasal valve collapse, can impair nasal breathing and lead to mouth breathing. Nasal dilators and nasal strips are solution to help keep the nasal passageways open and facilitate nasal breathing for better sleep and better health.

Here we'll do a review of nasal dilators and compare them to SnoreBuds. We'll also do a comparison and review of other nasal breathing aids such as mouth tape and chin traps o see how these compare with nasal dilators and SnoreBuds to stop snoring.

Nasal Dilators: How nasal breathing stops snoring

Everyone is born a natural nasal breather. It’s important for proper airflow dynamics as well as air filtering (dust, allergens, and bacteria), humidifying, and oxygenating to keep you healthy. It also helps prevent snoring.

Mouth breathing is bad for snoring and bad for your health.

If you have constrictions in your nose, like most people do, it can cause you to breathe through your mouth. Any solution, whether a nasal dilator, nasal strips, or mouth tape or a lip shield that helps you stop mouth breathing and start nasal breathing is a positive.

So, in general, I’m a big advocate for nasal breathing aids like nasal dilators. Your sleep and your health require you to breathe properly, and that means through your nose, not your mouth.

• Internal Dilators (e.g., Mute, Airmax): Small devices inserted into the nostrils to hold them open.
• External Dilators (e.g., Breathe Right strips): Adhesive strips placed across the nose to lift the nostrils and reduce nasal collapse.
• Mouth Tape (e.g., Hostage Tape, 3M Nexcare): Adhesive tape placed over your lips to stop mouth breathing.
• Lip Shields (e.g. SnoreSealer): A soft material placed between your lips and teeth that block mouth breathing.

But even if you are breathing through your nose, any nasal constrictions impair optimal nasal airflow. A smaller nasal passage speeds up airflow. It’s like putting your thumb over a hose. This creates a pressure gradient that collapses the airway and leads to snoring and sleep apnea.

So even if you are nasal breathing, keeping open nasal passages is important to breath properly and stop snoring.

Therefore, nasal breathing aids are beneficial in that they help keep the nasal passages open and allow for proper nasal breathing.

Nasal Dilators: How well do they work to stop snoring

The problem with anti-snore nasal dilators and nasal breathing aids is that (alone) they often aren’t enough to stop snoring.

For example, mouth tape can get you to close your mouth and retrain nasal breathing. And nasal dilators can help keep your nasal passageways open from blockages like that from a deviated septum or nasal valve collapse. But often this is not enough to significantly reduce snoring.

Nasal Dilator and Nasal Breathing Aids: Comfort, Reusability, Effectiveness

While some nasal dilators are reusable, many are not, and most mouth tapes and nasal strips must be disposed of after each use. This is wasteful and can cause the expenses to add up compared to reusable options.

Most of these nasal breathing aids are well-tolerated, though some people have issues with the adhesives used in mouth tapes and nasal strips. Internal nasal dilators can take a few nights to get acclimated to. But overall, these are comfortable solutions.

Chin Straps that go around your head and under your jaw to hold your mouth shut also fall into this category of nasal breathing aids. They attempt to promote nasal breathing by strapping the mouth shut. While some designs are better than others, I’ve found that many of these push the jaw backwards, thereby shrinking the airway, and making things worse. They are also ineffective (alone) at stopping snoring.

Recommendation Anti-Snore Nasal Dilators, Nasal Strips, and Mouth Tape:  3 / 5 Stars

Many nasal breathing aids like nasal dilators are affordable, non-invasive, and easy to use options that can improve breathing while you sleep. And because proper nasal breathing is essential and nasal breathing aids like nasal dilators are low risk and low cost, it’s a great first step.

The reason I give most of them, and the category in general, 3 / 5 stars is because (alone) they aren’t super effective at stopping snoring.

DO: Give these a try if you are a mouth breather.

For example, if you need to sleep with a glass of water on the bed stand or if you wake up with a dry mouth, these are signs you are mouth breathing. Consider a nasal breathing aid to re-train proper nasal breathing. You can even use a combination of lip sealer and nasal dilator.

·         Recommended Brands

• Mouth tape: 3M Nexcare
• Nasal Dilator: Mute
• Nasal Strips: Breathe Right
• Lip Shield: Snoresealer

DON’T: Don’t expect these (alone) to solve your snoring problems.

Bonus Tip: The SnoreSealer is a special outlier in this category because not only does it help keep the mouth shut and facilitate nasal breathing, but it also aids in proper oral posture, and therefore does silence snoring much better than any other option.

SnoreBuds to Stop Snoring

SnoreBuds: A Nasal Dilator with EPAP

My original idea for SnoreBuds came about because I knew nasal dilators were great at helping people breathe better through their nose but were inadequate alone to stop snoring. And I knew there was a new technology called “EPAP” that was great at stopping snoring, but restricted nasal inhalation. The “aha” moment was to combine these technologies.

EPAP stands for Expiratory Positive Air Pressure and it’s clinically proven to treat obstructive sleep apnea and snoring.

EPAP works by providing positive pressure when you exhale. When you breathe out of your nose, you’ll feel a slight back pressure which creates a longer, slower exhale. This helps keep the airway open and stops tissue vibrations that cause snoring.

Nasal EPAP devices have a small valve that opens when you breathe in and partially closes when you breathe out. Your exhaled air will go through small vents. This is what creates the positive pressure and the slower exhalation that stops snoring.

The Problems with Nasal EPAP

The first ever nasal EPAP device was developed and approved by the FDA to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

Like many new technologies, it was a breakthrough but had a hard time breaking through due to 3 issues.

1.      Anti-Snore Strength

The first nasal EPAP device was developed to treat obstructive sleep apnea. It was high strength EPAP. Many patients had difficulty acclimating to this high strength straight away, and there was no way to turn the EPAP strength down to help get accustomed to it. 

2.      Prescription

Since nasal EPAP was only for sleep apnea, snorers couldn’t get it without a sleep test and a prescription from their doctor. This made it difficult to get and expensive.

3.      Inhalation

While EPAP devices are designed to create a resistance to exhalation, early EPAP devices also tended to restrict inhalation through the nose. As I’ve discussed here, you need to breathe through your nose. Anything restricting your ability to breathe in through your nose is bad.

The Nasal EPAP Solution

Nasal EPAP has been held back from being the GO-TO anti-snore option because of these 3 problems.

First, the early devices were made for obstructive sleep apnea only and not snoring. Therefore, they weren’t available to the general population, required a sleep study and a prescription, and only came in one high pressure version. There was no ability to turn down the strength for snorers, or to tailor the EPAP to your individual needs. Further, they restricted nasal inhalation.

But I had an epiphany.

The solution to snoring is to use nasal EPAP but make it adjustable and combine the technology with a nasal dilator.

That’s the moment I started my journey to develop SnoreBuds, the 1^st nasal dilator EPAP device with an adjustable “Snore Strength.”

From the get-go, I imagined it would be for snorers. That way you could buy it on the internet or in a store without the need for a sleep test and prescription like the earlier EPAP devices for sleep apnea. This way it would be both convenient and cost-effective.

It took over 10 years to develop (and all of my money :) but my imagination came to fruition.

I was awarded the patent for “Nasal EPAP Dilators” which are now posed to be the go-to first line of treatment to stop snoring.

The Best Anti-Snore Device: SnoreBuds vs Nasal Dilators

While I am an advocate of using nasal breathing aids like nasal dilators, nasal strips, mouth tape, and lip shields to train and maintain proper nasal breathing, alone they are limited by their effectiveness to actually stop snoring.

If you’re serious about putting an end to your snoring, I recommend choosing an option that is backed by research and proven to be effective.

While nasal breathing aids can help, nasal EPAP is clinically proven to reduce snoring.

Further, your snoring is unique and requires a unique “Snore Strength” that fits you.

While previous EPAP devices couldn’t be personalized, SnoreBuds has an adjustable EPAP dial, so that you can set your “Snore Strength” to your unique needs. You can even start at lower Snore Strengths to get acclimated and turn up the Snore Strength as needed.

SnoreBuds: The Anti-Snore Nasal EPAP Dilator

SnoreBuds is the best anti-snore device ever created. It’s the only anti-snore solution that checks all the boxes.

SnoreBuds checks all the boxes you want in an anti-snore solution:

• It works.
• It’s comfortable, convenient, and cost-effective.
• It’s safe, effective, and well-researched.
• It’s adjustable so you can personalize your Snore Strength
• It’s available without a prescription or sleep test.
• It’s small, easy to travel with, and discreet.
• It’s reusable, reducing waste and costs.
• It’s the go-to anti-snore device. Nothing compares.

SnoreBuds uses the power of your own breath to silence snoring so you can get restful sleep together.