Sinead Corcoran: Will a sleep apnoea device really stop your snoring?

According to the Sleep Health Foundation, snoring affects 40 per cent of adult men and 30 per cent of adult women. Photo / Getty Images

Sinead Corcoran trials a sleep apnoea and snoring device in a bid to harmonise her marriage.

I never used to be a snorer. That was until I went on antidepressants a year ago and put on 20kg. I reckon at least five of those kilos have settled on my chest, so with mammoth E-cups crushing my windpipe, I now snore and it sounds like a death rattle. I know this because my partner has filmed me and the videos are truly chilling. Every minute or so I stop breathing, and then make a choking noise like something out of a horror movie.

Most mornings I wake up alone because my partner has been forced to sleep in our spare bed to escape.

And it's not just me. According to the Sleep Health Foundation, snoring is a common condition that affects 40 per cent of adult men and 30 per cent of adult women. Snoring is caused by a partially closed upper airway (the nose and throat). The collapsed/relaxed neck muscles cause restricted airflow and the airway becomes too narrow for air to travel through to the lungs. This makes the surrounding tissues vibrate, causing the familiar snoring sound.

So, for the sake of my marriage, I recently tried a sleep apnoea and snoring device from ApneaRX.

"A snoring partner can prevent a good night's rest, leaving the partner tired and irritated in the mornings," says the website, and my grouchy partner can vouch for this.

"If it's ongoing, then one partner, often the non-snorer, leaves the room and sleeps somewhere else, not enjoying the comfort and convenience of their own bed.

"Snoring often continues in relationships for years and both partners often accept that sleeping apart is the only solution for a good night's sleep. Snoring aids bring people together and keep marriages together when partners were previously sleeping apart."

As a newlywed, I would obviously like to keep my marriage together, so I ordered a snore guard immediately.

The first step was moulding it to my teeth, which I did by first dunking it into hot water and then shoving it in my mouth. What I liked about this process was it made me feel like a real athlete, maybe an All Black or pro wrestler.

The mouthguard works with technology called "mandibular repositioning"; it advances and holds the lower jaw in a slightly forward position, opening the airway to help prevent your tongue from collapsing into your throat. Doing this, it reduces the risk of soft tissues falling close enough together to vibrate, causing you to snore like a pig. When your airway is kept free of obstruction, your body gets the proper oxygen it needs to allow for a more peaceful and healthy night's sleep.

I will be honest with you; it was extremely uncomfortable for the first week or so. I have temporal mandibular joint disorder, which basically means I struggle to bite into big things like apples. So to have my jaw hinged open meant I had extra strain and I'd wake up in the night with headaches and discover I'd spat the mouthguard out on to my pillow.

After chatting with ApeaRX though, they informed me that it's normal to have an uncomfy teething period while your mouth gets used to the new position. So, I stuck with it and found that after another week it became comfortable and I could keep it in all night.

I obviously didn't notice a difference in my snoring because I was asleep – but my partner says it has changed his life and he no longer wants to murder me. If that's not a 10/10 recommendation, I don't know what is.