Guides · Updated 25 October 2026

How to stop snoring naturally: 7 remedies ranked

Start with the changes that have the best evidence: sleep on your side, skip alcohol in the evening, and lose weight if you're overweight.

Which one works depends on why you snore. So try one change at a time, and compare your nights.

Why there's no single fix

Snoring is soft tissue in your mouth, throat and nose vibrating as you breathe. It narrows for different reasons in different people:

lying on your back
alcohol
extra weight
smoking
a blocked nose

A remedy only helps if it matches your cause. That's why a friend's fix may do nothing for you.

The remedies, ranked by evidence

Remedy	Most likely to help if	Evidence
Sleep on your side	You snore more on your back	Good: 2 in 3 snorers in one study
No alcohol in the evening	You snore more after drinking	Good: clear effect in a sleep lab study
Mouth and throat exercises	You can practise daily for weeks	Moderate: one randomised trial
Lose weight	You're overweight	Recommended by the NHS
Stop smoking	You smoke	Recommended by the NHS
Avoid sleeping pills	You take them	Recommended by the NHS
Nasal strips	Your nose is blocked	Mixed

1. Sleep on your side

On your back, your tongue and soft palate sag toward your throat.

Evidence: in a study of 76 snorers without sleep apnea, 66% snored more on their back.
Try: a tennis ball stitched to the back of your sleepwear, or a pillow wedged behind you (NHS).

More in Does sleeping on your side stop snoring?

2. Skip alcohol in the evening

Alcohol relaxes your throat muscles.

Evidence: in a sleep lab study, men who usually snored spent 4.2 times as much of the night snoring at a blood alcohol level of 0.08% (the drink-driving limit in most US states). Men who didn't snore didn't start.
Try: no drinks for a few evenings. It's the cheapest change to test.

3. Mouth and throat exercises

Daily exercises for the tongue, soft palate and face, meant to tone the muscles around your airway.

Evidence: in a trial of 39 snorers, three months of daily exercises cut snoring from 99.5 to 48.2 snores an hour, about half.
The catch: it takes months, and it's one small trial.

4. Lose weight, if you're overweight

The NHS lists being overweight among the things that make snoring more likely. In the side-sleeping study, the higher someone's BMI, the more they snored on their back. It's the slowest change here.

5. Stop smoking

Smokers are more likely to snore (NHS).

6. Avoid sleeping pills

The NHS says they can sometimes cause snoring. If a doctor prescribed them, ask your doctor first.

7. Nasal strips, if your nose is blocked

They hold your nostrils open, so they only help when snoring starts in your nose. In the exercise trial, a group using nasal strips with breathing exercises saw no change in snoring.

Skip: mouth tape

A 2025 review of 10 studies found little evidence that it helps, and a possible risk of suffocation if your nose is blocked.

Why one night can't tell you if it worked

Snoring changes a lot from night to night, even when nothing else does.

A study recorded 20 snorers at home for four nights in a row. The difference between nights was so large that one night's result wasn't reliable. The researchers recommend at least four nights.

They also found that how bad people rated their snoring didn't match the recordings. So "it didn't work last night" or "my partner says it's better" isn't enough to judge a remedy.

Test it on yourself

Record four normal nights. Change nothing. This is your baseline.
Pick one remedy that matches when you snore.
Record at least four nights with it. Exercises and weight loss need a few weeks.
Compare. If your Snore Score and snoring time are lower, keep it. If not, try the next one.

snoreMIC records every night for free. Log the remedy you're trying, and Premium compares your nights with and without it.

Common mistakes

Trying several things at once. If snoring drops, you won't know which change did it.
Judging after one night. Snoring swings so much between nights that one night tells you little.
Stopping exercises after a week. The trial that showed results ran for three months.
Buying gadgets first. The free changes at the top have better evidence.

See a doctor if

lifestyle changes aren't helping
you're very sleepy during the day
your breathing stops and starts, or you gasp or choke in your sleep

These can be signs of sleep apnea, which can be serious if it isn't treated (NHS). How to record your snoring for a doctor.

Questions

How can I stop snoring immediately?

Tonight, the two changes most likely to help are sleeping on your side and not drinking alcohol in the evening. There's no instant cure that works for everyone, because snoring has different causes.

Can you stop snoring permanently?

Sometimes. If your snoring comes from something you can change, like extra weight, smoking or drinking in the evening, it can stop when that changes. If it doesn't, a doctor can talk you through treatments such as mouth devices.

Do mouth and throat exercises really work for snoring?

In one trial of 39 people, doing them every day for three months roughly halved the number of snores an hour. They take weeks of daily practice, so they suit people who can stick with them.

Does mouth taping stop snoring?

There's little evidence that it does. A 2025 review of 10 studies found little benefit and a possible risk of suffocation for people whose nose is blocked.