People may be snoring more at the moment due to the effects of lockdown, according to an expert who believes the restrictions we're currently facing in life could also be leading to physical restrictions with our breathing.
While many of us are all too aware of the downsides to life in lockdown, having to juggle working from home with childcare or drinking more out of sheer boredom, one expert believes the current climate could be related to other health woes that we may not have thought of.
Stephen Makinde, leading osteopath and clinical director of Perfect Balance Clinic, believes issues like snoring have become worse for some people because they feel trapped in their surroundings, a sensation that is manifesting itself physically - in turn causing those who snore to experience exacerbated symptoms.
Makinde said: "People can have emotional things that are locked inside them, like if they're in a bad relationship, or believe they can't open up about something, feeling congested and locked up, such as in the current situation where life is restricted.
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"That's potentially going to manifest itself as a restriction or obstruction of their airways because their subconscious is telling them to restrict themselves perhaps, albeit the mechanism not being fully understood.
"So it may present as snoring in some people. It's very individual for every person.
"For others it could be physical, not eating the right food in terms of their diet.
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"It might be hormones that are affected, but it's a huge, huge component people don't really address thoroughly enough because they're dealing with the physical side rather than the whole thing."
Makinde said it often takes work pin-pointing what may have triggered someone's snoring, adding: "I've had that with clients in the past. Pretty much every time I've seen them, it's something emotional that has triggered the visit. It can be directly or indirectly related, there's no pattern."
He continued: "The key things with snoring that we'd look for would be very specific and related to their case history.
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"It would be about identifying what's going on with that person, their past, the current situation and why it's happening, because it could be anything from physical things, to the emotional, to nutritional issues.
"There are lots of different things it could be.
"So, for example, someone is stressed and sitting at their computer all day long. It's not just the fact they're sitting at the computer, perhaps affecting their posture. It's the workload and their relationship with the workload they're having that also has an impact.
"It's never just physical and just one thing.
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"When people have problems it's about identifying which of the three elements is out of balance the most.
"If their physical is out of balance because they've experienced trauma, fallen over say, and hurt themselves then we would address that side. But much of the time it's down to a combination of things.
"Say the person was drunk when they fell over. That would probably mean some sort of emotional response to the injury and pain as well.
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"So that also needs to be addressed. It's all part of the process of resolving the condition."
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