As a first-line treatment, I urge anyone who either snores, or is just fatigued after sleep, to try a nasal stent/dilator. This isn't the strips which go on the outside of the nose, although those work for some people, they're less effective. I use the Rhinomed, but there's several brands, that's just the first one I got, and if you drop them in a small bowl of water in the morning and rinse them off a few hours later, they'll last forever. It's just a little piece of medical-grade plastic which you stick in both nostrils, and it props them open.
Some people are are going to need a CPAP, but trying the nasal stent doesn't take a sleep study, insurance, or a machine which you plug in and maintain: it takes twenty bucks. Probably don't jump straight in to using it every night, it takes the nostrils awhile to get used to them, but I have no discomfort at all starting around the second week of using them.
I would even go so far as to say everyone should just pick them up and try them out. One benefit that never occurred to me is that when I have mild congestion, the mechanical action of the stent will drain it, and no one sleeps well with a stuffy nose. Getting more oxygen per breath while sleeping has no downsides, even if you think you don't need it. If you ever wake up with one sinus filled with mucus, definitely give it a try.
Some people are are going to need a CPAP, but trying the nasal stent doesn't take a sleep study, insurance, or a machine which you plug in and maintain: it takes twenty bucks. Probably don't jump straight in to using it every night, it takes the nostrils awhile to get used to them, but I have no discomfort at all starting around the second week of using them.
I would even go so far as to say everyone should just pick them up and try them out. One benefit that never occurred to me is that when I have mild congestion, the mechanical action of the stent will drain it, and no one sleeps well with a stuffy nose. Getting more oxygen per breath while sleeping has no downsides, even if you think you don't need it. If you ever wake up with one sinus filled with mucus, definitely give it a try.