Snoring ranges from 50 to 65 decibels on average, roughly the volume of a normal conversation, but severe snoring can hit 80 to 90 decibels, comparable to a vacuum cleaner running next to your head. You have two paths: block or reduce the noise reaching your ears, and help the snorer produce less noise in the first place. Most people need a combination of both.
Earplugs: Your First Line of Defense
Foam or silicone earplugs are the cheapest, fastest fix. Most sleep earplugs carry a noise reduction rating (NRR) between 22 and 33 decibels. Products specifically marketed for sleeping alongside a snorer, like Loop Dream or ZQuiet earplugs, reduce noise by about 27 decibels. That’s enough to take moderate snoring (around 60 dB) down to a soft background hum, though it won’t fully silence a severe snorer at 80+ decibels.
Foam earplugs are better at blocking sound overall but can feel uncomfortable if you’re a side sleeper. Silicone putty earplugs mold to the outer ear and stay put when your head is pressed into a pillow. If you’ve never slept with earplugs before, expect two or three nights of adjustment before they stop feeling foreign.
White Noise and Sound Masking
White noise machines work differently from earplugs. Instead of blocking sound, they overlay it with a consistent, neutral tone that makes the irregular rumble of snoring less jarring to your brain. Your auditory system responds most strongly to sudden changes in noise, so a steady background hum helps snoring blend into something your brain can ignore.
A fan, a dedicated white noise machine, or even a smartphone app set to brown noise (a deeper, lower-frequency option) can all work. Place the sound source between you and the snorer, closer to your head. Combining a white noise machine with earplugs is often more effective than either strategy alone, especially for louder snorers.
Change the Snorer’s Sleep Position
Most snoring happens when someone sleeps on their back. In that position, gravity pulls the tongue and soft tissues backward, partially blocking the airway. Rolling the snorer onto their side often reduces or eliminates the noise entirely.
The classic trick is sewing a tennis ball into the back of a sleep shirt so lying on the back becomes uncomfortable. A more modern version is a positional therapy belt or a wedge pillow placed behind the snorer’s back. Some people respond well to elevating the head of the bed. A wedge pillow angled between 30 and 45 degrees can open the airway without causing neck pain. Below 30 degrees, the angle typically isn’t steep enough to help. Above 45, the snorer tends to slide down during the night.
Nasal Devices That Actually Help
If the snoring originates from nasal congestion or a narrow nasal passage, opening up airflow through the nose can make a real difference. External nasal strips (the adhesive kind you place across the bridge of the nose) increase airflow by about 54% in people with nasal obstruction. Internal nasal dilators, small cone-shaped devices inserted into the nostrils, perform significantly better, increasing airflow by roughly 110% and reducing nasal resistance by more than three times compared to external strips.
These devices work best when nasal blockage is the primary cause. If the snorer breathes freely through the nose during the day but still snores heavily at night, the obstruction is likely happening deeper in the throat, and nasal devices alone won’t solve it.
Oral Appliances for Persistent Snoring
When simpler fixes fall short, a mandibular advancement device (MAD) is worth considering. These are mouthguards that hold the lower jaw slightly forward during sleep, preventing the tongue and surrounding tissue from collapsing into the airway. About 93% of people who continue using one report at least a 50% reduction in snoring. Objective measurements back this up: in one study, snorers went from a median of 193 snores per hour without the device to just 20 snores per hour while wearing it.
Over-the-counter “boil and bite” versions cost between $30 and $100 and let you test whether the approach works. Custom-fitted versions from a dentist are more comfortable for long-term use. The main complaints are jaw soreness in the first few weeks and excess saliva production, both of which usually fade with time.
When Snoring Signals Something Bigger
Loud, chronic snoring is the hallmark symptom of obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where the airway repeatedly closes during sleep. This matters because apnea carries real cardiovascular risks for the snorer, and because no amount of earplugs or positional tricks on your end will fix it.
Doctors use a simple eight-question screening tool called the STOP-BANG questionnaire to assess risk. The snorer scores one point for each “yes” to these factors: snoring loud enough to be heard through a closed door, frequent daytime tiredness or sleepiness, anyone observing them stop breathing or gasp during sleep, high blood pressure, a BMI over 35, age over 50, neck circumference of 16 inches or more, and male sex. A score of 3 or higher suggests a meaningful risk of sleep apnea that warrants a sleep study. If the person you share a bed with gasps, chokes, or seems to stop breathing during the night, that’s the most important red flag.
Sleeping in Separate Rooms
If nothing else is working, sleeping apart is not a failure. Research has found that sleep disturbances are directly linked to reduced relationship satisfaction, meaning a couple forcing themselves to share a bed when one person can’t sleep may actually be doing more harm to the relationship than sleeping in different rooms would. The arrangement sometimes called “sleep divorce” has gained mainstream acceptance precisely because both partners tend to feel better rested and less resentful.
If separate bedrooms aren’t available, even staggering your bedtimes can help. Falling asleep 20 to 30 minutes before the snorer gives your brain time to enter deeper sleep stages, which are naturally more resistant to noise disruption. Once you’re in deep sleep, moderate snoring is far less likely to wake you.
Putting It All Together
Start with the lowest-effort strategies and layer them. Earplugs plus a white noise machine can handle mild to moderate snoring for most people. Add a positional change for the snorer (side sleeping, head elevation) and you’ve addressed the two biggest variables: the noise reaching your ears and the noise being produced. If that combination still isn’t enough, nasal dilators or an oral appliance target the snorer’s airway directly. The goal is finding the specific combination that gets you both through the night, which sometimes takes a few weeks of experimenting.