People have been producing saliva all the time, but we consciously swallow the saliva when we are awake. We produce significantly less saliva when we are sleeping than awake, and drooling will not occur under normal circumstances. But some people drool a lot while sleeping. It's not because they are very hungry in the dream and want a big meal. This kind of involuntary drooling during sleep is called "Hypersalivation". Except for some pathological reasons, such as facial paralysis, there are 4 main reasons why people drool when sleeping:
1. Mouth breathing.
When our nose doesn't get enough oxygen, we involuntarily begin to breathe through our mouths, and this breathing method will lead to drooling. Colds, nasal congestion, chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, allergies, and deviated nasal septum can cause mouth breathing.
2. Side effects of medicine.
Certain drugs may have the side effect of significantly increasing saliva, such as central nervous system depressant drugs, such as antidepressants, which are the most likely to cause this side effect; Secondly, alcohol will have a similar effect.
3. Sleeping positions.
Improper sleeping positions. For example, when we sleep on the stomach or sleep on the side, the chin will open unconsciously, and a lot of saliva will accumulate in the corner of the mouth, but it will not trigger the swallowing action, so the saliva flowing out from the corner of the mouth may be greatly increase.
4. Nerves are overexcited.
Sometimes drooling is caused by excessive physical fatigue or excessive mental energy. These problems will cause nerve disorders so that when we are sleeping, our brains will have some confusion which leads to drooling.
Now that we understand the causes of drooling while sleeping, we can address these issues correspondingly.
Option 1. If you drool while sleeping because of mouth breathing:
Firstly, it is necessary to find out the reason for breathing through the mouth, which is basically related to nasal congestion.
- In case of nasal congestion caused by a cold: You can take some medicines (which contains pseudoephedrine in the drug) that can relieve nasal congestion, or try using ventilation nasal patch.
- If nasal congestion was caused by allergies: go to the ENT, your doctor will prescribe you some anti-allergy medicine or nasal spray, basically, the effect is remarkable;
- If nasal congestion was caused by rhinitis: Please go to see a doctor and it will take some time to treat.
Option 2. If you drool while sleeping because of side effect of medicine:
If possible, you need to consult your doctor to see if other suitable medicines can replace with yours.
Option 3. If you drool while sleeping because of your sleeping position:
As mentioned above, sleeping on your side or stomach is easy to cause drooling. If you switch to lying on your back, the saliva generated will accumulate in the back of your throat due to gravity, which will trigger the action of swallowing to swallow the saliva.
Option 4. If you drool while sleeping because of being overexcited:
Don't exercise too intense or play games and other things that stimulate the nerves before you sleep. On the contrary, you can choose to read a book and listen to soothing music to relax your and body mind.
Other tips to help you stop drooling
First of all, you need to believe it’s normal if you drool occasionally, and there is no need to require a treatment If you don’t drool excessively. Some simple changes can help, such as prop up your head, get a mouthguard, etc. Besides, it is worth mentioning that find a suitable pillow may help you stop drooling. Because an unsuitable pillow may compress your mouth to stimulate your salivary glands to produce more saliva. Some adjustable pillows like ZAMAT adjustable memory foam pillow, which is accompanied with removable memory foam inserts so that you can simply adjust the height of your pillow to meet your needs. Moreover, the ZAMAT pillow can help you alleviate all strains and relieve your neck pain.
Anyway, don't feel so nervous about drooling while sleeping. As long as you are good at discovering the underlying factors that cause the cause, and make corresponding adjustments and improvements, I believe the problem can be solved easily.
