Natural Remedies for Snoring: What Works and What Doesn't

If you’ve searched for natural remedies for snoring, you’ve probably seen confident claims for essential oil sprays, honey before bed, humidifiers, acupressure rings and more. Here is the honest answer: almost none of these popular remedies has good evidence behind it. Some have a single small, flawed trial; several have been the subject of formal rulings by advertising regulators; most have no human evidence at all.

That doesn’t mean nothing natural works. It means the word “natural” is doing the selling, not the science. The best-proven drug-free ways to reduce snoring — losing excess weight, cutting evening alcohol, sleeping on your side, exercising the throat muscles and unblocking your nose — are all natural in any meaningful sense, and most of them are free.

This article rates each popular remedy on the evidence, explains exactly what the studies (where they exist) actually found, and then points you towards the natural approaches that genuinely have research behind them.

How we rated each remedy

For each remedy we looked for controlled human trials — studies that compare the remedy against a placebo or no treatment and measure snoring in a reasonably objective way. Testimonials, mechanism-only arguments (“it soothes the throat, so it must help”) and manufacturer claims don’t count. That is the same standard the UK Advertising Standards Authority applies: to advertise an anti-snoring product, a company should hold at least one adequately controlled trial on humans.^[1]

Essential oils and herbal throat sprays Weak evidence

This is the only remedy in the “no-evidence” aisle with an actual randomised trial — so it deserves a full, honest look.

In 2004, Andrew Prichard published a trial in Phytotherapy Research testing an essential-oil preparation used either as a throat spray or a gargle before bed.^[2] A total of 140 snorers were randomised to the spray, the gargle or a placebo. The results were assessed not by any recording equipment, but by asking bed partners whether snoring had improved.

On that subjective measure, the results looked encouraging: 82% of partners in the spray group and 71% in the gargle group reported reduced snoring, compared with 44% in the placebo group (p≈0.03).^[3]

Now the problems. Only 85 of the 140 participants provided analysable data — a very high dropout rate. There were no objective measurements of snoring sound or breathing at all. And the author himself flagged that a suggestion (placebo-type) effect could explain much of the result.^[3] Notice, too, that 44% of people given a placebo “improved” — which tells you how unreliable partner impressions are as an outcome measure.

More than two decades on, this single small trial has never been replicated. One unreplicated, subjective, high-dropout study is the entire evidence base for every essential-oil snoring spray on the market. Verdict: weak, and not a sensible place to spend money.

Honey No good evidence

Honey before bed is a much-loved folk remedy, but there are simply no studies of honey for snoring — none. The nearest relevant research is a Cochrane review of honey for children’s cough, which found it may reduce cough symptoms modestly.^[4] Mayo Clinic likewise discusses honey only as a cough soother.^[5] Coughs and snoring are entirely different problems: snoring is caused by relaxed throat tissue vibrating as air passes over it, not by an irritated throat. A spoonful of honey is pleasant and harmless for adults, but there is no evidence it touches snoring.

Humidifiers No good evidence

There are no clinical trials of humidifiers for snoring. The argument for them is purely mechanistic: dry air can irritate the nose and throat, and adding moisture may ease congestion and mouth-breathing discomfort.^[6] That’s plausible as a comfort measure — and if your snoring is driven by a chronically blocked nose, addressing the congestion itself has real evidence behind it (see below). But nobody has demonstrated that humidifying a bedroom reduces snoring. Treat a humidifier as a comfort purchase, not a treatment.

Acupressure rings and wristbands No good evidence

These are perhaps the clearest case of marketing outrunning science — clear enough that regulators on two continents have formally intervened.

In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority’s compliance body (CAP) published guidance in April 2019 stating that advertisers of anti-snoring aids need at least one adequately controlled human study to support efficacy claims. It highlighted rulings against Virginia Medical Supplies and The Good Night Ring, whose acupressure-ring claims rested on customer testimonials only — which the ASA does not accept as evidence.^[1]

In Australia, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found in 2010 that claims made for the “Anti Snor Therapeutic Ring” — worn on the little finger and said to relieve snoring via acupressure — were misleading, and the companies involved gave court-enforceable undertakings to stop making them.^[7]

There is no acceptable clinical evidence that a ring or wristband pressing on an acupressure point reduces snoring. Save your money.

Acupuncture Weak evidence

Acupuncture has been studied for snoring and sleep apnoea, and meta-analyses exist — but they pool small trials of limited methodological quality.^[8][9] No major clinical guideline endorses acupuncture for snoring or obstructive sleep apnoea. If future large, well-designed trials appear, this verdict could change; for now the evidence is too weak to recommend it.

Chin straps No good evidence

Chin straps — fabric slings that hold the mouth closed overnight — are often marketed alongside natural remedies. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found a chin strap alone was ineffective as a treatment.^[10] They are covered in more detail in our anti-snoring devices guide, where the contrast with properly evidenced devices such as mandibular advancement devices is stark.

Natural approaches that actually have evidence

Here is the pivot that matters: the genuinely effective drug-free measures are also “natural” — they just aren’t sold in a bottle.

Sleeping position and head elevation Moderate evidence

Sleeping on your back lets gravity pull the tongue and soft tissues backwards, narrowing the airway.^[11] Back-sleeping is a recognised risk factor for snoring,^[12] and training yourself onto your side — plus raising the head of the bed — has reasonable supporting research. See our full guide to positional therapy and head elevation.

Mouth and throat exercises Moderate evidence

Strengthening the muscles of the tongue, soft palate and throat (myofunctional therapy) has real randomised-trial support — including a UK trial of singing exercises and a BMJ-published randomised trial of regular didgeridoo playing, both of which reduced snoring-related outcomes. We cover these trials in detail in our mouth exercises article. It takes weeks of practice, but it costs nothing.

Weight, alcohol and smoking Strong evidence

This is the strongest evidence on the page. In the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort, a 10% weight gain predicted roughly a 32% increase in the apnoea–hypopnoea index and a six-fold increase in the odds of developing moderate-to-severe sleep-disordered breathing, while a 10% weight loss predicted about a 26% decrease.^[13] A meta-analysis of 21 studies found higher alcohol consumption was associated with a 25% increase in sleep apnoea risk.^[14] Smokers show higher apnoea severity and worse overnight oxygen levels in a 13-study meta-analysis,^[15] and ex-smokers’ snoring has been observed to decline to never-smoker levels within about four years of quitting.^[12] Full details in our lifestyle changes guide.

Treating nasal congestion

Chronic night-time nasal congestion roughly doubles the odds of habitual snoring, and allergic congestion is linked to a 1.8-fold risk of moderate-to-severe sleep-disordered breathing.^[16] Unblocking your nose — whether with allergy treatment, nasal strips or dilators — is one of the most sensible first steps. See nasal strips, dilators and congestion.

Summary: every remedy, one honest verdict

The bottom line

“Natural” is a marketing category, not an evidence category. The remedies with the loudest natural-health marketing — sprays, honey, rings, straps — have between them one weak trial and two adverse regulatory rulings. Meanwhile the interventions with genuinely strong or moderate evidence are as natural as it gets: your sleeping position, your weight, your evening drink, your cigarettes, your nose and your throat muscles. Start with our complete guide to stopping snoring and put your effort where the evidence is.