Ft Worth Times

• Chronic sinusitis can lead to snoring.

• Snoring can cause other medical issues, including higher risk for heart attacks and strokes.

• A balloon sinuplasty can fix chronic sinus problems.

Chronic sinus problems are one reason that people may begin snoring, according to Kaplan Sinus Relief. Short-term effects of snoring include fatigue during the day, headaches, chest pain during the night and a sore throat in the morning.

Snoring takes place when your body is unable to breathe properly through the nose while sleeping, which can happen when the sinuses are inflamed or infected. Breathing through the mouth while sleeping causes the airways to narrow, and the soft tissue in the throat vibrates, causing the snoring sound.

Other factors that might cause people to snore include drinking alcohol, taking muscle-relaxing sedatives, certain hormones caused by pregnancy or being overweight, according to Cleveland Clinic. Snoring over a long period of time can lead to health problems, including a lower blood oxygen level, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and higher risk for heart attacks and strokes.

At-home remedies for chronic sinus problems include sleeping on your side, sleeping with your head elevated or using nasal strips. If none of those methods help you stop snoring, a balloon sinuplasty procedure can clear your sinuses for long-lasting relief.

The procedure typically lasts approximately 20 minutes, during which an ENT physician will insert a tiny balloon into your nasal sinuses and inflate it, allowing the sinuses to open up and helping you to breathe more easily. The procedure is minimally invasive, pain-free and done in the office.

Dr. Monty Trimble of Dallas Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers said a balloon sinuplasty is an efficient, minimally invasive way to resolve chronic sinus problems and the side effects that come along with them, which can include snoring and headaches.

"Sinus headaches are muscle tension headaches that are caused by dysfunctional sinuses, which lead to nighttime nasal obstruction and increased efforts to breathe. There's no doubt that if you resolve those problems, then the headaches will improve or go away altogether," Dr. Trimble told Ft. Worth Times. "There's a lot of stress in life today, and people are constantly on devices and computers and, for whatever reason, that definitely seems to increase the muscle tension stress. The whole purpose of your six to eight hours of sleep is for that muscle tension to go away.

"But if you're spending the night fighting that bear, you're snoring, you're obstructing, you're not breathing easily through your nose, you're not going to recover, and then those muscle tension issues compound and your head just feels like it's going to explode. If you can improve the sinuses, the nasal airway, patients ultimately find that their headaches almost always improve."

For more information about sinusitis and allergy symptoms, take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.