Snoring is the product of friction and vibration of the tongue, soft palate and throat tissues as muscles relax during sleep. Some kinds of snoring are easy to overlook. In fact, nearly half of adults snore lightly from time to time. But other kinds of snoring are disruptive and possibly cause for a checkup.

Are you tired of waking up to the otherworldly, barely human snoring noises of your partner, roommate or sibling? The perpetrator won’t make an effort to stop snoring until you broach the topic; if you haven’t already, turn to your partner, roommate or sibling right now and do so.

If you are the perpetrator, hitherto unaware of your nightly noises, here are some steps you can take to stop snoring. First of all, back-sleepers are those most susceptible to snoring, so try sleeping on your side.

• Back-sleepers often sew a tennis ball onto the back of their pajamas to encourage side-sleeping. If you just can’t sleep on your side, try using a thicker pillow to elevate your head.

• Got milk, or muscle relaxants? Tranquilizers and sleeping pills can relax those vibrating mouth muscles enough to cause snoring. Also examine your drinking habits, and not just alcohol; alcohol in the evening relaxes muscles and causes snoring as well, but that nighttime glass of warm milk can also make you snore by increasing the mucus in the back of the throat.

• Now, what’s missing from the picture? If your living environment is arid, the answer is moisture. Consider running a humidifier, because dryness promotes nasal congestion and muscle friction in the throat.

• An overweight neck can constrict air passages enough to incite snoring. If you are overweight, aim for a healthier weight through exercise and changes in diet.

• As part of that new exercise routine, walk to your nearby drug store and consider buying some breathing strips to open nasal passageways.

• The best long-term advice is to inform your primary care doctor. Sometimes snoring erupts along with congestion during an illness, but if you’re a chronic, heavy snorer, seek medical attention to explore the possibility that you require treatment for allergies or sleep apnea.