Treatment options for snoring

Having read the article by Mr Kotecha and Dr Shneerson (July 2003 JRSM¹) I should like to draw attention to another possible option for the treatment of snoring which does not involve surgery. It is not widely known that hypnotherapy can be a useful tool for eliminating snoring. Until quite recently the focus of attention in hypnotherapy has been to reduce alcohol intake, and also to ensure weight reduction. However, in a recent study,² direct suggestion under hypnosis was used so that the patient would immediately turn on his side when snoring at night. This led to a reduction in the intensity and duration of the snoring response. The patient was encouraged to learn self-hypnosis and was instructed to carry this out daily. At first, he was somewhat reluctant to do this, but as the treatment progressed and he could see the effectiveness of the technique—his wife volunteered that both the volume and the duration of the snoring had improved—he became more enthusiastic. Later, he could see that a reduction of alcohol intake and weight loss were important and, by the end of the treatment, he had lost 6 kg in weight. He had ten hypnotherapy sessions in all and, at completion, the snoring was eliminated altogether. When followed up by phone at three and six months the patient said that his improvement had been maintained. Hypnotherapy might be tried as a first-line approach before more invasive procedures are considered.