Is Loud Snoring a Sign of Something More Serious?

At Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders, we understand that loud or chronic snoring isn’t just a nuisance—it can be a sign of a more serious sleep disorder, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). While occasional, mild snoring may be harmless, persistent loud snoring—especially when accompanied by symptoms like gasping for air, restless sleep, morning headaches, or excessive daytime sleepiness—should not be ignored.

Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when the airway becomes partially blocked during sleep, causing breathing to stop and start repeatedly. This can disrupt your sleep, reduce oxygen levels in your body, and increase your risk for serious conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, and chronic fatigue.

Our experienced team specializes in evaluating and treating sleep-related breathing disorders, including snoring and sleep apnea. We offer comprehensive assessments, which may include a detailed medical history, sleep studies, and advanced diagnostic tools to identify the root cause of your symptoms.

At Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders, we specialize in diagnosing and treating conditions that can disrupt your sleep and overall health—including simple snoring and sleep apnea. While both conditions may involve noisy breathing at night, it’s important to understand how they differ and why professional evaluation is crucial. Simple snoring occurs when airflow through the mouth and nose is partially blocked, leading to vibrations in the throat tissues. This vibration produces the familiar snoring sound. While simple snoring is usually harmless, it can be disruptive to your bed partner and may indicate underlying issues with your airway or jaw alignment. Simple snoring typically does not cause breathing interruptions or significant drops in blood oxygen levels, and most individuals won’t experience severe daytime sleepiness or frequent morning headaches as a result.

Sleep apnea, especially the most common form known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), is more serious. With OSA, the airway becomes fully or partially blocked during sleep, leading to repeated pauses in breathing that last at least ten seconds—and sometimes much longer. These interruptions force your body to wake up briefly to resume breathing, which disrupts your natural sleep cycle and leads to poor sleep quality. Common symptoms include loud snoring, choking or gasping during sleep, excessive daytime sleepiness, difficulty concentrating, and morning headaches. Untreated sleep apnea is associated with major health risks such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and increased risk of accidents from fatigue.

If you are concerned that your snoring might be affecting your breathing at night, the team at Koala® Center can help. Snoring that is accompanied by pauses in breathing, gasping, or choking sounds during sleep is often a sign of a more serious condition, such as obstructive sleep apnea. These episodes may be noticed by your partner or family members, or you may wake up suddenly at night with a sensation of breathlessness. Even if you seem to get a full night’s sleep, feeling excessively tired during the day, experiencing morning headaches, dry mouth, sore throat upon waking, or difficulty concentrating are all signs that your sleep may be disrupted by breathing issues.

Mood changes, irritability, high blood pressure, and other heart-related issues can also be linked to undiagnosed sleep disorders. Our experienced providers specialize in diagnosing and treating sleep-related breathing problems, including sleep apnea and snoring, as well as TMJ disorders that can contribute to poor sleep quality.

At Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders, we understand that loud snoring is more than just a nighttime nuisance—it can be a warning sign of underlying health issues. Many patients come to us reporting not only snoring, but also persistent morning headaches and dry mouth. These symptoms are often connected.

Snoring usually occurs when airflow is partially blocked during sleep, causing throat tissues to vibrate. This can be a sign of a serious sleep disorder called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), where breathing repeatedly stops and starts throughout the night. When your breathing is disrupted in this way, your body may not get enough oxygen, leading to poor sleep quality. The result? Widened blood vessels in the brain that can trigger morning headaches.

Additionally, people who snore or have OSA often breathe through their mouths at night. This mouth breathing can dry out oral tissues, leaving you with a dry mouth when you wake up.

If snoring is disrupting your sleep or affecting your partner, the team at Koala® Center is here to help. Snoring can result from various factors—including airway obstruction, anatomical differences, and underlying sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnea. Our experienced providers specialize in evaluating and treating sleep-related breathing disorders, focusing on both the causes and health impacts of snoring.

Personalized Evaluation and Advanced Diagnostics
During your initial visit to Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders, our providers will conduct a comprehensive assessment, taking into account your medical history, sleep habits, and any related symptoms you may be experiencing. To get to the root of your snoring, we may recommend diagnostic tools such as home sleep testing or a polysomnography (sleep study), which allow us to accurately diagnose conditions like sleep apnea and determine the severity of your snoring.

Expert Treatment Tailored to You
At Koala® Center, we offer customized oral appliance therapy—an effective, non-invasive treatment option for patients whose snoring is caused by mild to moderate airway obstruction or jaw misalignment. Our specially designed oral appliances help to gently reposition your jaw, keeping your airway open throughout the night and significantly reducing or eliminating snoring.

We take a holistic and individualized approach to care. Our goal is to help you achieve restful, uninterrupted sleep and enhance your quality of life. Persistent snoring isn’t just a nuisance—it can be a sign of underlying health concerns that deserve professional attention. Let our team of sleep and TMJ disorder specialists help you breathe easier and sleep better.

Contact Koala® Center For Sleep & TMJ Disorders today to schedule your evaluation and take the first step toward a quieter, healthier night’s sleep. We serve patients from Wausau WI, Schofield WI, Weston WI, Rothschild WI, Brokaw WI, and surrounding areas.