Here is a quick and easy way to save $119: do not buy Snore Circle, a recent bit of technology meant to stop snoring. (Yes, I am the snorer.)
One problem: it’s impossible to switch sides while sleeping with the Snore Circle. Doing so will hurt.
Another problem: even if you can live with sleeping on only one side, the Snore Circle can hurt. Not at first. But after four or five hours, the area behind the ear can become impossibly uncomfortable, even painful. That’s because the Snore Circle is large enough to push the ear out from behind. I tried using the device for four nights and could not last for more than four or five hours a night. I realized how painful this device can be when I was out walking in the cold one morning and felt the ache, still there behind my ear.
One more problem: the cost of returning the Snore Circle to its Chinese manufacturer is prohibitive — about $70 in postage from downstate Illinois. (We paid only $80 for the device by singing up early.) And the company’s e-mails and responses to online comments leave me less than confident that a refund would ever be arriving anyway.
Does Snore Circle reduce snoring? In my case, yes, at least sort of. Setting the device to send a strong signal after a single snore gave me a hellish four or five hours of endlessly waking up. (That’s one way to stop snoring.) Setting the device to send a moderate signal after a ten-snore delay seemed to reduce my snoring by half (if the device’s data, sent to a phone app, is accurate). But again, that’s over only four to five hours, after which I had to remove the device from my ear.
What’s done much more to reduce my snoring, with no electronics and no aching ears: a beans72 buckwheat pillow, recently arrived.
There are so many products popping up now that claim to stop snoring. As I said to Elaine last night, “It looks like the world has fucking had it with snoring.” (And who can blame it?) But the simple stuff — a better pillow, Breathe Right strips, a white-noise machine (i.e., a fan) — might prove more helpful than higher-tech gadgetry.
[Note: beans72 makes no claim that its pillows reduce snoring. Your sleep may vary.]
Monday, January 2, 2017
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comments: 9
I have a CPAP, not for snoring per se but because I can't sleep without it (I was waking up 90 times an hour). It's a pain because you can't fall sleep reading a book in the afternoon. On the other hand, I no longer need afternoon naps . . .
Any idea why the buckhwheat pillow works for you? I have small wishes that my other half could be just a bit quieter while sleeping on his back.
It’s small and firm. Right now I’m using the travel size, which is fine. But I also ordered the “Japanese” size, which is still on the small side.
"Fabricated with PRIDE by genuine Japanese in the Heart of TEXAS USA!"
Not sure how I feel about people described as "genuine Japanese."
The company’s owner is a Japanese woman: “beans72 was born in Tokyo and lived her entire life in Japan until moving to the USA in 1999 to start the pillow company that you have all come to enjoy.”
I get that, just that it's odd to describe people as "genuine Japanese." Made me stop a bit.
Yes, totally. A really awkward way to stress the product’s authenticity.
What, no polysomnogram? A neurologist who specializes in sleep disorders is bound to be available. Your primary care physician should have referred you! (My sympathies to Elaine.)
DHubby has used a CPAP for more than 25 years. His first sleep study revealed that he stopped breathing more than 220 times. (This was not news to ME. I was getting less sleep than he was, thanks to the loud snoring and sudden cessation of breath sounds, after which I would sit up and heave him over onto his side or whatever.) He had the throat surgery (uvulopalatopharyngeoplasty..sp?) and the follow-up study showed he stopped breathing 180 times. Well, it helped somewhat. (Now it's a much easier laser surgery procedure.)
CPAP technology has really advanced, I'm happy to say. All very worthwhile! He puts it on even to nap.
I appreciate your concern, Elaine. My snoring is a pretty mild matter. If it worsens, I won’t ignore it, promise. :)
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