Written by Editorial Team
Grown-ups are not by any means the only ones who snore! Snoring while sleeping is fairly common among the kids. Studies show that Seven percent to 10% of children snore on the most night while around 20% of children snores occasionally.
Snoring happens when the air is not able to circulate freely through one’s nose and throat. Throughout the time of sleeping, the muscle in the upper airway sometimes tends to relax a bit more – resulting in the collapsing of the airway. This unsteady movement of air will result in vibrating the tissues of the palate (roof of mouth), nose and throat. These vibrations create snoring sound.
Even though snoring obviously is not a normal activity of the body, it also generally cannot always be an indication of some health issue of the child. Most of the children who snores are found to be fit as a fiddle. ‘Primary’ or normal snoring will not interrupt their sleep. Their mental and physical development will be similar to the children who do not snore.
Severe snoring that hinders the sleep of the child is found in about 2% of children who snore. Their snores could be an indication of underlying sleeping or breathing problems which can be life-threatening. Children who snore loudly are likely to have twice learning problems than normal children. Delayed growth and cardiovascular problems are also found to be associated with severe snoring.
Therefore, being a parent you should be conscious if some changes occur to your child’s sleeping or breathing habits.
There are several factors that can cause snoring in school going children. Some of the reasons are temporary like snoring associated with a stuffed nose, which will vanish when the illness goes. While, some reasons are rather persistent such as anatomical defects. Some of the reasons are:
Snoring is also one main symptom of sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD).
Sleep-related breathing disorder (SRBD), though not rare among children, but is still not easily diagnosed in most cases either.
Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) and upper airway resistance syndrome (UARS) are the common sleeping and breathing disorders associated with snoring.
There are several after-effects that result from the restlessness and poor quality of sleep experienced by school going children with sleep-related breathing disorders like:
Kids with upper airway resistance syndrome wakeup now and then during their sleep as a result of resistance in the airway or due to exerted snoring. But the level of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood or the tissues in the child will remain intact.
Sometimes, the collapsed airway of the kids with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome does not open. The child will struggle to breathe and wake himself from sleep in order to catch his breath and then go back to sleep. The level of carbon dioxide in the blood and the tissues will escalate and the oxygen levels drop down as breath-in is completely stopped.
Sleep apnea is commonly found among the children with Down syndrome.
You should be concerned about your child’s snoring if:
The treatment for snoring varies with the cause. Occasional and light snore in the children can be eliminated by:
Heavy snoring needs medical attention. Take the child to a medical practitioner and he will fix the treatment after finding out the reason behind the snoring.
Surgical treatment is suggested in:
Positive air pressure treatment is suggested for children with OSAS. A mask is worn over the nose. A gentle and steady flow of air through this mask will keep the air way open and prevents the child from waking up to catch the breath.
Now you know that snoring is not a simple thing that could be ignored. When your child snores, you might be a bit amused, maybe thinking that “he snores just like his father!” But persistent snoring could indicate symptoms of any health problems that you should be aware of. Therefore, it is always better to consider the health factors of your child before coming to such conclusions.
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