Headache Snoring

Which comes first - Headache or Snoring ?

One crucial question remains unanswered by the study, however: Does the snoring cause the headache or does headache cause snoring?

Snoring, which occurs when restricted airflow vibrates against the soft tissue of the airway, can cause a drop in the amount of oxygen in the body, resulting in a throbbing headache. But medications used to alleviate headache pain can also disturb sleep and promote snoring.

"We can't really say what the causative relationship is because we assessed the snoring at the same time as we assessed the headaches," says lead author Ann Scher, an epidemiologist at the National Institute on Aging. "Both explanations are reasonable." 

Such a study would require snoring patients to adopt lifestyle changes such as losing weight, decreasing alcohol consumption, and avoiding sleeping on their backs to curb their snoring behavior.