All you need to know about anti-snoring ring
An anti-snoring ring is worn on the small finger to relieve snoring problems. Though invented recently, it relies on the ancient Chinese medical principle of acupressure that has been used extensively in China for more than 3500 years.
Its use has increased in recent years. This is expected as people have realized the need to use safe anti-snoring solutions. Before going into details of how the ring works, it is important to understand how snoring works and why it should be stopped.
What is snoring, and why should it be controlled?
Snoring is noisy breathing when one is asleep. It affects both men and women. However, the prevalence of the condition among men is higher than among women. The condition is more prevalent among people with health conditions, such as obesity or people who are overweight.
Snoring is caused by bulky tissues on the throat that are common, but not exclusive, to overweight people or those suffering from obesity. It is also caused by infections or allergies that cause nose deformities, such as deviated septum. Other causes include poor sleep position, alcohol consumption, and poor muscle in the throat and tongue.
Even though many people treat it as an ordinary condition that needs no intervention, snoring has serious effects on a person’s health and social relations. For instance, snoring interrupts sleeping. When a person has poor sleep quality at night, productivity during the day is likely to be negatively affected.
Regular sleep interruption may result in the development of high blood pressure and even stroke.
From a social point of view, snoring can have adverse effects on a person’s relationship with their partners. Many people have reported ending relationships and even marriages because of their partners’ snoring problems.
Snoring is, therefore, a severe problem that you can’t afford to ignore. People have resorted to several techniques to control snoring. One of them is lifestyle modification, such as avoiding alcohol and sleeping on the side instead of on the back.
Another method is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) application. The technique prevents throat muscles from collapsing by blowing air into the throats back. In extreme cases, surgery may be used to treat snoring. The method is recommended for people whose snoring is caused by nose and mouth deformities or by bulky throat tissues.
Acupressure is a more recent but also effective technique of controlling snoring. It uses an acupressure ring.
Features of acupressure anti-snoring ring
The anti-snoring ring, also called acupressure anti-snoring ring, is made of metal and is designed for the little finger. On the outside, the ring can use any metal. Common metals that are used include stainless steel, copper, titanium, and sterling silver. On the inside, however, it uses copper metal because of its diamagnetic properties.
The ring is worn on the little finger because the finger has the relevant acupoints that are associated with snoring. Wearing the ring on fingers other than the little finger has no effect on snoring because other fingers do not have acupoints that are associated with snoring.
The effectiveness of the little finger in acupressure use was confirmed by the Aspen Clinical research of 2012. In the study, researchers had 20 snorers wear the acupressure anti-snoring ring for a number of days. First, they wore it on their index fingers. All of the 20 snorers reported no decrease in their snoring problem. However, when they wore the anti-snoring ring on their little finger, 17 of the snorers snored less frequently and less loudly than before. The research not only proved that acupressure anti-snoring rings work but that they only work when worn on the little finger.
What makes the anti-snoring ring unique is its interior design.
The ring’s exterior is the same as that of other rings. However, unlike other rings that are uniformly circular on the inside, the stop snoring ring has a flat side and a small bump in its interior. The flat side and small bump apply pressure on relevant acupoints to achieve the desired results.
How the anti-snoring ring works
The anti-snoring ring is also called the acupressure ring because it applies the principle of acupressure to reduce snoring problems. To understand how the device works, it is important to first understand how snoring happens.
Snoring happens because the jaw, tongue, and throat muscles relax when one sleeps. Relaxed muscles cause the airway to narrow, thus increasing the pressure of air passing through the airway. When one breathes in, the soft tissues of the throat collapse. It is this vibration that leads to the production of snoring sounds. Therefore, if we want to reduce smoring, we can prevent the throat muscles from relaxing.
How does the anti-snoring ring keep throat muscles from relaxing?
It uses the acupressure principle. This principle has been applied in China for more than three thousand years. It holds that the body has multiple pressure points that are linked to specific internal body organs. These pressure points and the internal body organs that they are associated with are linked by meridians or pathways.
It is worth noting that the pressure points do not necessarily need to be physically close to the internal organ that they are associated with. Taking the throat as an example, the pressure points are on the little finger.
According to the principle of acupressure, applying pressure on the pressure points has an effect on the associated internal organ. For instance, the organ may contract or relax, depending on whether the pressure has been applied or withdrawn from the pressure point.
Since the throat’s pressure points are on the little finger, the muscles of the throat can be controlled by applying pressure on the pressure points on the little finger. A little pressure on these two pressure points on the finger leads to a relatively quick reaction of throat muscles because the nerve connecting the two points is very easy to stimulate.
This nerve is known as the ulnar nerve and connects the neck, the small finger, and half of the ring finger. It is the largest nerve in the body that is entirely unprotected by either a bone or a muscle. The lack of protection makes it very easy to stimulate with a little pressure.
When the anti-snoring ring is worn on the little finger, it applies pressure on the two pressure points and stimulates the ulnar nerve. The stimulated ulnar nerve, in turn, stimulates the throat muscles where it starts from, thus leading to their contraction. As a result of this contraction, the diameter of air pathways increases, thus, allowing air to freely flow without causing vibrations of the throat muscles. Since it is these vibrations that lead to the production of snoring sounds, when they are reduced or eliminated, the snoring is also moderated.
How to use the anti-snoring ring
Like other devices, the snore ring is only useful when used appropriately. Correct usage relates to the time and style of wearing.
The recommended time of wearing the ring is thirty minutes before going to sleep. Wearing it about an hour before going to sleep also works well. Wearing the ring long before sleeping or too close to sleep time may result in it not having the intended effects.
Secondly, the ring should be worn appropriately. It should be worn on the little finger of the left hand for females and right hand for males. Even though the ring finger also links to the ulnar nerve, only half of the finger shares a link; this makes it harder to stimulate. When putting on the acupressure ring, one should slide the ring around the finger and gently push it down until it reaches the little finger’s bottom. It should rest halfway between the finger’s joint and the knuckle. The ring should then be adjusted so that the flattened section presses against the inside of the finger. That way, the bump should press against the outside of the finger’s base.
Importance of selecting the right size of the anti-snoring ring
Given that the acupressure ring works by exerting pressure on the little finger, it is essential to get the right size. If the ring is too small, it will cause extreme discomfort and pain. On the other hand, large rings may fit too loosely to exert any significant pressure and may fall off when one is asleep.
You can get the appropriate ring size by trying out different rings before buying one. However, since most purchases nowadays are online, it is important to know your exact ring size. You don’t want to get caught up in the process of shipping it back.
To measure the size of the little finger, cut a strip of paper and wrap it around the little finger. Next, mark the points where the wrapping starts and ends. The length between these two points corresponds to the circumference of the little finger. From this circumference, one can quickly get the diameters of the fingers because ring sizes are often presented in terms of their diameters. The large-sized ring has a diameter of between 19mm-22mm, the medium-sized ring has a diameter of between 17mm – 19mm, and the small-sized ring has a diameter of between 15mm – 17mm.
For each ring size, there is a diameter range of two millimeters between the smallest and the largest. The field allows the ring to be adjusted so that it does not fit too tightly or loosely.
Benefits of using an anti-snoring ring
Anti-snoring rings have many advantages over other snore relief devices.
- Rings are discreet and comfortable to wear. Other devices used to reduce snoring are often large and uncomfortable to use. For instance, the face masks are not only very conspicuous but also discomforting to sleep with.
The ring achieves its discreteness in two ways: the first its small size while the second is the fact that it is worn on the little finger. This snoring aid is very convenient for couples since your partner does not have to know.
- The device offers a natural and non-invasive method of solving snoring problems. One of the ways that have been used to treat snoring involves surgical removal of tissues around the mouth and nose. This removal is inspired by the anatomy of the body, whereby specific shapes of noses and mouths can lead to the development of snoring problems. Tissues are removed to get an appropriate form of the mouth and nose. Indeed, given a choice between wearing a ring and having some mouth and nose tissues surgically removed, many people will choose the former option because it is non-invasive and pain-free.
- Acupressure rings are relatively cheap. On average, they cost around $15. Other techniques that are used to control snoring, such as surgery and CPAP masks, are significantly costlier than the acupressure anti-snoring ring.
Another benefit of the acupressure anti-snoring ring is that it is relatively easy to use. All one needs is to push it gently on their small finger. Other techniques, such as using CPAP masks, are usually more complicated and very uncomfortable to use.
Apart from ease of use, acupressure anti-snoring rings are safe. One cannot be harmed in any way by sliding a call on their finger. The worst that can happen is pain. However, with appropriate adjustments, you can wear the ring without feeling any pain. Moreover, as long as the call is not being eaten by a person with severe heart problems or a pregnant woman, there are entirely no side effects that one suffers from using the ring.
Effectiveness of this anti-snoring device
A majority of people who have used acupressure anti-snoring rings claim that they are effective. A 2012 research that interviewed people who had used the ring to control snoring found that the ring was significant in 85% of the people who used it. Even though this success rate is not 100%, it is still relatively high, especially when compared to other anti-snoring products in the market. However, there is still no reliable scientific or medical evidence to support the use of anti-snoring rings to solve snoring problems. It is because of this lack of strong scientific evidence that some governments have cautioned marketers of the product against misleading consumers.
Precautions when using the anti-snoring device
The anti-snoring ring is generally safe. However, certain precautions need to be observed when using the ring. For instance, it should only be used by people who are over 18 years. Apart from people below 18, the ring should also not be used by pregnant women, people with heart pacemakers, or people with other serious heart problems. Contrary to public fears, the device is safe to be used by claustrophobic people as it has not been found to trigger any such phobias when worn.
It is also important to note that the ring is only useful for people with mild snoring problems. It does not cure snoring issues that are caused by medical conditions, such as sleep apnea. Therefore, if your snoring comes from such matters, it is important to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
This is because chronic snoring is merely a symptom of an underlying health condition that needs to be treated. People with underlying medical conditions may experience choking, shortness of breath, some periods of not breathing, and excessive sleepiness during the day. If one experiences these symptoms, in addition to snoring, it is not advisable to use the ring as it will only manage to conceal one of many signs of a significant health condition. When such symptoms persist even when using the ring, it is advisable to discontinue its use and seek medical help. Acupressure anti-snoring ring manages to snore, not sleep apnea. Given that there are effective treatments for sleep apnea, it is safer to seek medical attention from a verified physician.
Discontinuation is recommended when discomfort or pain is encountered during use as well as when no improvement is noted after weeks of use.
It is worth noting that the ring may not be effective for all snorers. So, if it fails to work after days or weeks of use, try a different antisnoring technique. Most sellers offer full refunds to people who return the ring within a month of purchase because of ineffectiveness. So, discontinuation of use may not lead to any monetary losses.
Another precaution is to avoid wearing the ring during working hours. The ring’s effectiveness in controlling snoring reduces when it is worn more than it is necessary. For optimum results, it should only be worn around thirty minutes to sleep and promptly removed when one wakes up.
Conclusion
Though no strong scientific evidence supports the anti-snoring ring as an effective technique for reducing snoring, there is significant anecdotal evidence to support its use in the control of snoring. Besides, the ring is safe, cheap, and easy to use. Try it today!
