Why do I snore if I'm not overweight?

You can snore at any weight, because snoring depends mostly on the shape of your airway and what narrows it at night. A blocked nose, large tonsils, a long soft palate, the shape of your jaw, evening alcohol, sleeping on your back and getting older can all cause it. Thin people can also have sleep apnea, so loud snoring deserves attention whatever the scale says.

Why do people who aren't overweight snore?

People who aren't overweight snore because weight is only one of many things that narrow the airway during sleep. Snoring happens when air can't flow easily through the nose or mouth and the tissues in the airway vibrate against each other. Cleveland Clinic says the blockage may come from your anatomy, from a temporary problem like a cold, or from the muscles of the mouth and throat relaxing too much.

Snoring is also very common, so plenty of slim people are in the group. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) says about half of people snore at some point, and that about 40% of adult men and 24% of adult women are habitual snorers.

Cleveland Clinic lists the main risk factors for snoring, and most have nothing to do with weight. This table pulls them together with the NHS's advice on matching treatments to causes:

The sections below go through the biggest ones.

Can your jaw and airway shape make you snore?

Your jaw and airway shape can make you snore, because they set how much room there is for air to pass. NHLBI, part of the US National Institutes of Health, says your genes help determine the size and shape of your skull, face and upper airway. It also lists large tonsils, a large neck or a large tongue as features that narrow the airway or make it easier for the tongue to block it during sleep.

Cleveland Clinic adds that if the roof of your mouth is longer or softer than usual, or your uvula, the dangling tissue at the back of the mouth, is longer, the opening from your nose to your throat can be narrower. Those tissues can then vibrate and bump against each other as you breathe.

Research backs this up for sleep apnea, the more serious end of the same problem. A 2005 study in Thorax examined 239 people referred to sleep centers in Hong Kong and Vancouver. Two features stood out as predictors of sleep apnea: a crowded back of the mouth, scored by how much of the throat you can see when someone opens wide, and a steep angle in the line under the jaw. These held across both ethnic groups and across different levels of weight. In other words, the shape of your face and throat can matter even when your weight doesn't.

Could a blocked nose be the cause?

A blocked nose is one of the most common causes of snoring in people of any size. Cleveland Clinic explains that partly blocked nasal passages make you work harder to move air, which can pull together or collapse the soft tissue further down and cause snoring. It names a deviated septum, the wall between the nostrils, and nasal polyps as structural causes, and congestion from allergies and colds as temporary ones.

The good news is that a blocked nose is often one of the easier causes to work on. In a 2000 randomized, placebo-controlled study, 12 non-obese adults with chronic rhinitis and no sleep apnea wore either real or placebo nasal strips. Real strips lowered snoring frequency from about 258 to 173 snores an hour, though they didn't change how loud the snoring was. The NHS also matches nasal dilators or strips to blocked or narrow nasal passages.

If your nose is often stuffy at night, see why your nose is stuffy at night

What about alcohol, sleep position and age?

Alcohol, sleep position and age are three of the most common reasons slim people snore, and two of them are within your control.

Alcohol relaxes the muscles that keep the upper airway open. A Cleveland Clinic sleep specialist describes alcohol at night as a central nervous system depressant that can make the airway more floppy. Cleveland Clinic adds that sedatives and even lack of sleep can relax those muscles too. If your snoring is worse after drinks, our guide to alcohol and snoring explains how timing helps.

Sleep position matters a lot. Cleveland Clinic says sleeping on your back is more associated with snoring than sleeping on your side or stomach, because the tongue can relax toward the back of the throat. It cites a 2009 study of 2,077 sleep clinic patients in which snoring was caused by sleep position in 54%. See sleep position and snoring for ways to stay off your back.

Age is the one you can't change. Cleveland Clinic says snoring becomes more common as we age because muscle tone decreases and the airways shrink. The AASM notes that men become less likely to snore after age 70.

Can thin people have sleep apnea?

Thin people can have sleep apnea, and it's more common than many people assume. Obstructive sleep apnea is when the airway repeatedly closes during sleep, causing pauses in breathing.

A 2017 study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine reviewed 163 consecutive sleep studies at an Australian teaching hospital clinic. Among the people diagnosed with sleep apnea, 25% had a body mass index in the normal range and 54% weren't obese. The non-obese patients were also less likely to stick with CPAP, the standard treatment, and the authors suggested that factors other than anatomy, such as waking more easily from breathing changes, may play a bigger part in their sleep apnea.

NHLBI lists many risk factors that apply at any weight, including older age, family history and genetics, large tonsils or tongue, smoking, drinking alcohol and being male. So if you're slim and snore loudly, don't assume sleep apnea can't apply to you. Our guide to snoring vs. sleep apnea explains the difference.

What can you do about it?

The best approach is to match the fix to the cause, starting with the simple ones. The NHS suggests side sleeping, not smoking, not drinking too much alcohol and avoiding sleeping pills, which can sometimes cause snoring.

From there, look at your nose and mouth. A nasal strip is an easy first step if your nose feels tight. If your mouth tends to fall open and your nose is clear, mouth tape is a simple way to encourage nose breathing. In a 2022 study of 20 mouth breathers with mild sleep apnea, a week of taping cut the median snoring index by about 47%, and 13 of the 20 halved their snoring. It's a small study, but the result is encouraging. Try our nose test first, then read how to start mouth taping. We don't recommend mouth tape for children.

If those don't help, a doctor can look at your nose, mouth and throat. Cleveland Clinic notes that treatment depends on the cause and can include allergy and cold medicines, oral appliances, sleep apnea treatments and, in some cases, surgery to remove excess tissue or correct a structural problem. Our guide to reasons you snore has a longer list.

When should you see a doctor?

See a doctor if your snoring is loud or comes with other signs, whatever your weight. The AASM says snoring paired with choking or gasping is a reliable indicator of sleep apnea, and lists daytime fatigue and high blood pressure among the warning signs. The NHS advises seeing a GP if lifestyle changes aren't helping, if you feel sleepy in the day, or if your breathing stops and starts while you sleep.

Cleveland Clinic suggests bringing your partner to the appointment, or using an app or a noise-activated voice recorder to track your snoring, so your doctor has something concrete to go on.

Our pick (paid partner): Titan Sleep System

If your snoring comes from your nose, your mouth or both, our pick is the Titan Sleep System. We haven't tested or ranked these products ourselves; this is our recommendation.

Titan says the system pairs TitanAir Nasal Strips, drug-free strips with flexible spring-loaded bands, with Titan Bamboo Silk Mouth Tape as one nightly routine. Titan says every batch is third-party tested and certified PFAS-free, and its 30-night guarantee refunds you if your sleep isn't better after 30 nights.

Read next

• Reasons you snore
• Why did I start snoring suddenly?
• Does weight loss help snoring?

* This content is for informational and educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or health condition. Talk to a qualified healthcare provider about your health.