A Sluggish Lymph System Causes Snoring

Snoring is the main symptom of sleep apnea or its precursor condition, hypopnea, which involves the reduction of airflow. While it is disturbing to one’s sleep partner, it is also a sign of a health problem that should be improved to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and significantly improve energy. A new study by Italian researchers pointed out why millions struggle with the above mentioned problem.
Fluid retention and snoring

To prevent or reduce snoring, the solutions will center on daytime issues as opposed to something done at bedtime. The rational for this approach is supported by a study of patients with chronic venous insufficiency. These subjects experienced significantly reduced apnea and hypopnea when they used support stockings during the day. By preventing fluid accumulation during the day, much less fluid pooled around their necks at night, resulting in improved breathing during sleep.
Just about anyone who snores notices they weigh more at night than they do in the morning. The extra weight at night is primarily water weight. As your body recovers during sleep from the wear and tear of the day, inflamed tissues release their water. If inflammation is significant you may have to use the restroom several times during the night to get rid of the water. Otherwise, you wake up in the morning, use the restroom, stand on the scale, and you are hopefully no heavier than the day before.

Lymph stagnation and snoring

Problems with snoring develop when there is overload or malfunction in the way the body processes water, especially relating to the lymphatic system and veins. For many, the first medical sign of this issue, along with snoring, will be elevated blood pressure. Ironically, taking blood pressure medication will make the problem worse by depressurizing the “push” on the lymph system that comes naturally from the cardiovascular system. In this common situation, blood pressure medication actually adds to the risk of cardiovascular disease by contributing to a lack of oxygen circulating at night.

This is because our lymph system, in addition to its immune-related chores is also involved with clearing trash and the absorption and transport of fat. The speed with which we mount an immune response, can be drastically impaired by poor lymph function. It is worthwhile to understand how well our own lymph system is working.

What is Lymph Stagnation?

A properly flowing lymph is essential for a speedy and effective immune response. A stagnant or congested lymph spells trouble, in direct proportion to the amount of stagnation present.

The fluid between every cell of our body becomes lymph fluid as it enters the lymphatic vessels. Waste products of metabolism that are too large to put into your blood and breathe out are transported via our lymph to our liver for processing. The greater the amount of wear and tear we are under, from any source, the more trash must be hauled out through this system.

The same lymph system is also crucial for how your body absorbs and transports dietary fat, and as a result, is also subject to toxic overload from your own digestive tract.

Some variables that contribute to an overload of the lymph system include the following: eating a high fat dinner, eating almost anything after dinner, an acute infection, a chronic low-grade infection in your digestive tract (bacterial or Candida imbalance), a high stress day, or a physically exhausting day. Any of these factors or any combination of these factors requires your lymph system to deal with a higher-than-desired amount of stuff, all of which promote fluid stagnation and an excess build up of fluids during the day. Simply being overweight is a symptom of an overloaded lymph system.

The lymph circulation does not have its own pump. Rather, it runs primarily on muscle contractions that massage it along. Therefore, inactivity and loss of muscle tone, are major problems for healthy lymph flow.

Once a lymph overload and a weakened ability of your body to handle the overload takes hold, you accumulate and retain more water during the course of the day—two or more pounds worth. It is normal to be one pound heavier at night than you are in the morning. At night, your body tries to dump all of this stagnant water as part of house cleaning, moving it towards your shoulder and neck area. This causes fluid to accumulate in your neck area, putting pressure on your breathing system and causing snoring and other potentially more serious problems such as sleep apnea.

How to improve lymph function

The solution is to reduce factors of overload during the day so that you retain less fluid during the day. Additionally, taking steps to repair the weakened and aging lymph system and connective tissue matrix can promote a return of fitness to your body, meaning your body is more able to naturally process water-related issues.

Exercise will help move and eliminate the stagnant fluids, as long as you are not excessively exercising for your level of fitness, which would only promote fluid retention as a result of exercise-induced inflammation.
Lymphatic Drainage Massage can stimulate the opening of the initial lymphatic and increase the volume of lymph flow by as much as 20 times.

References:

Sluggish Lymph System Causes Snoring & Sleep Apnea - Byron J Richardsd, Board of Certified Clinical Nutritionist, Wellness Recourses| February 10, 2014