Did you snore last night?
Find out why — in 2 minutes.

The vibration can start at four places. In nasal snoring, the nose itself is the bottleneck — congestion, allergies, or a narrow passage. In mouth-breathing snoring, the jaw drops open and air rushes across the soft palate. In tongue-base snoring, the tongue relaxes backward and crowds the throat. In positional snoring, gravity does the damage only when you lie on your back.

Three clues separate them without any equipment:

• The closed-mouth test: if you still snore with your mouth gently closed, the source is nose or tongue — not the mouth.
• The side test: three quieter nights on your side points to positional (or positional-plus-tongue).
• The morning report: dry mouth means mouth-breathing; a stuffy head means nasal; a partner hearing pauses means stop and read the red-flag guide.

Why it matters: each cause has a fix that costs between $0 and $120 — but only when it's aimed at the right cause. A mouthpiece can't open a blocked nose, and a nasal strip can't hold a tongue forward. Take the 2-minute test to sort yours.

STOP-Bang stands for Snoring, Tiredness, Observed apneas, Pressure (high blood pressure), BMI over 35, Age over 50, Neck circumference large, and Gender male. One point per “yes”.

• 0–2 · Low risk: OSA is unlikely. Focus on the snoring itself.
• 3–4 · Intermediate: worth a conversation with your clinician, especially before surgery or if symptoms are strong.
• 5–8 · High risk: a formal sleep evaluation — home sleep test or in-lab study — is the recommended next step.

The crucial caveat: STOP-Bang is deliberately over-sensitive. Studies find roughly 60% of people with a high score do not actually have OSA when tested. A high score is a reason to get tested, not a diagnosis — and a low score doesn't fully rule OSA out if your partner witnesses breathing pauses. Only a sleep study measuring your apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) can diagnose it. That's why this site screens first and sells second: if your score is 5+, the comparison table is not your next stop — a clinician is.

How it's supposed to work: sealed lips force nasal breathing, which humidifies air and keeps the jaw from dropping open. For mouth-type snorers, that removes the vibration source.

Never tape if any of these apply:

• Your nose is blocked or even partly congested (cold, allergies, deviated septum you haven't had checked)
• You've had alcohol or sedatives that evening
• Your STOP-Bang score is 3 or higher, or anyone has seen you stop breathing in your sleep
• You have reflux, nausea, or any chance of vomiting in the night

The safer ladder: start with a chin strap for 3 nights — it holds the jaw without sealing the lips. If that helps and your nose is reliably clear, you can trial tape (skin-friendly, easy-release strips only), with your partner aware the first nights. If you wake panicky or with a headache, stop: that's information, not failure — go back to the test and check your nasal score.

Two fitting styles. Ready-to-use hinged designs (ZQuiet, from $39.95) work out of the box with fixed advancement steps. Boil-and-bite designs mold to your teeth: SnoreRx Plus ($99.99) adjusts in 1 mm steps and comes apart for cleaning; VitalSleep ($119.95) uses a screw adjuster up to 8 mm, comes in two sizes, and backs it with a 1-year replacement warranty.

What the first two weeks feel like: excess saliva and mild jaw ache in the morning are normal and usually fade. The rule is least advancement that works — start at the minimum setting, add 1 mm every few nights, and back off if jaw pain lasts past midday.

Skip MADs entirely if you wear dentures or braces, have loose teeth, gum disease, or a TMJ/jaw-joint history — and talk to a dentist first if you've had major dental work. All three devices above are FDA-cleared to reduce snoring. None is a treatment for sleep apnea; if your STOP-Bang is high, a dentist-fitted appliance belongs inside a clinician-led plan, not a shopping cart.

Full side-by-side: the comparison table.

External strips (Breathe Right, ≈$12 for 26) stick across the nose and spring the nostrils open from outside. Best when the narrowing is at the nostril flare and your skin tolerates adhesive. The maker cites up to 31% more airflow; expect a subtle, real effect — not silence.

Internal dilators (Mute by Rhinomed) sit just inside the nostrils and stent them open from within; the maker's trial data reports ~38% average airflow improvement. Better if strips peel off or your narrowing sits deeper. Each dilator lasts about 10 nights, so it becomes a running cost.

Saline rinses & allergy control treat the cause when the blockage is swollen tissue rather than structure: rinse before bed during allergy season, wash bedding hot weekly, and keep bedroom air from going bone-dry. If one side is always blocked lying down, that's a structural question (e.g., deviated septum) for an ENT — no strip fixes anatomy.

Test protocol: one option at a time, 3 nights each, partner score or phone recording as your yardstick.

Step 1 — confirm it free (3 nights). The tennis-ball trick: ball in a sock, pinned or sewn to the back of a sleep shirt. Or a small backpack worn to bed. If recordings or your partner confirm the snoring mostly disappears, your type is confirmed — no purchase needed yet.

Step 2 — pick a sustainable method. Most people abandon the ball within two weeks. What tends to stick: a body pillow that makes back-rolling awkward; a wedge pillow ($40–80) that raises the torso 7–12° so back-sleeping itself gets quieter; or, for stubborn cases, a vibrating positional trainer that buzzes when you roll supine.

Buying checklist for wedges: full-torso length (not just a head wedge, which bends the neck), medium-firm foam, and a washable cover. Give it seven nights — night one always feels strange. And note the bonus: incline also calms reflux, which itself congests the nose — positional and nasal types often improve together.

Alcohol within 3 hours of bed relaxes throat muscles further, so the tongue and soft palate collapse more — even non-snorers can snore after late drinks, and tongue-base snorers get dramatically louder. Test: two alcohol-free evenings before 9 pm and compare recordings. This is the single fastest experiment on this page.

Weight and neck size matter mechanically: tissue around the neck narrows the airway, which is why neck circumference and BMI are built into STOP-Bang. Even modest weight loss can move both your snoring and your risk score — slowly, but in the right direction on both.

Late, heavy meals drive reflux, and reflux swells the tissues of the nose and throat. Finishing eating 3 hours before bed and a slight head-of-bed incline is a two-for-one fix for nasal-plus-positional types.

None of this is moralising — it's sequencing. Run the free levers for a week while you measure; if your type still points to a device, you'll buy it with evidence instead of hope.

Get evaluated promptly if you notice:

• A partner has watched you stop breathing, gasp, or choke in your sleep
• You wake with morning headaches or a dry, sore throat most days
• Daytime sleepiness that no amount of sleep fixes — dozing at lights, at your desk, mid-conversation
• Waking to urinate several times a night, or new/worsening high blood pressure
• Your STOP-Bang score is 5 or higher

What evaluation looks like: a clinician reviews symptoms and may order a home sleep apnea test (a wearable sensor kit for a night or two) or an in-lab sleep study. That measurement — your AHI — is the only way to diagnose apnea. Untreated moderate-to-severe apnea is linked to cardiovascular strain and accident risk from sleepiness, which is exactly why this site will never tell you a $99 mouthpiece "treats" it. If these signs fit you, book the appointment first; the snoring fixes can wait a month, this shouldn't.