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Sleep / Myth or fact?

Does sleeping on your side reduce snoring?

Introductory · 2 min read · ■■■□ moderate evidence

By: NefeslyFirst published: 18 October 2026Last updated: 29 October 2026Editor: support@nefesly.com

Partly true. For many people who snore on their back, sleeping on the side can reduce snoring. But this does not apply to everyone. In people with sleep apnea the effect is more variable.

We explain what happens in the throat when you lie on your back, and ways to make side sleeping easier, in Does sleep position affect snoring? Here we look at one question only: what does the evidence say?

What we know

  • Most people who snored without sleep apnea snored both for less time and more quietly when lying on their side1.
  • In a study of the general population in Switzerland, pauses in breathing rose markedly on the back in most people with sleep apnea3.
  • In short controlled studies, methods that keep people on their side reduced pauses in breathing and daytime sleepiness compared with doing nothing4.
  • But in sleep apnea they were not found to be as effective as a mask device that delivers mildly pressurised air4.

What we do not know

  • The long-term effect is not known; all the studies were short4.
  • It is hard to predict in advance who will benefit. In people with sleep apnea, lying on the side sometimes does not reduce snoring1.
  • Whether people can keep up this habit for years is unclear. Few people were still using the tennis ball method years later2.

This is not a case of "no evidence", but of "some evidence, with limits". For someone who snores on their back it is easy to try; even so, some methods that force side sleeping can cause back pain or broken sleep4. And if the snoring comes with pauses in breathing, lying on the side alone may not be enough.

When to see a doctor?

If pauses in breathing or daytime sleepiness continue even though you sleep on your side, see a doctor. When to see a doctor · Sleep centres in Türkiye

In depthmechanisms, studies, limitations

In the PSG data of Nakano and colleagues (n=72), snoring time and intensity fell significantly in the lateral position in most non-apneic snorers; in the OSA group the response was variable, and those with a high supine AHI tended to snore more on the side1.

In the HypnoLaus cohort (n=1719, aged 40 to 85), positional OSA (AHI at least 5 and a supine to non-supine AHI ratio of at least 2) was found in 75% of people with OSA, and the exclusive form, in which the non-supine AHI normalises, in 36%3.

In a Cochrane review (8 RCTs, 323 participants), positional therapy lowered the AHI by 7.38 events per hour and the ESS by 1.58 points compared with inactive control; CPAP gave a further 6.4 events per hour reduction in AHI compared with positional therapy4. Certainty of evidence was low to moderate and follow-up was short4.

Adherence is decisive: about 2.5 years later, only 6% of patients given the tennis ball technique were still using it2. With vibrating positional devices, adherence and AHI reduction in mild and moderate positional OSA were similar to an oral appliance5.

Sources

  1. Nakano H, Ikeda T, Hayashi M et al. Effects of Body Position on Snoring in Apneic and Nonapneic Snorers. Sleep. 2003;26(2):169-172. doi:10.1093/sleep/26.2.169
  2. Bignold JJ, Deans-Costi G, Goldsworthy MR et al. Poor long-term patient compliance with the tennis ball technique for treating positional obstructive sleep apnea. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. 2009;5(5):428-430. doi:10.5664/jcsm.27597
  3. Heinzer R, Petitpierre NJ, Marti-Soler H et al. Prevalence and characteristics of positional sleep apnea in the HypnoLaus population-based cohort. Sleep Medicine. 2018;48:157-162. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2018.02.011
  4. Srijithesh PR, Aghoram R, Goel A et al. Positional therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2019;2019(5):CD010990. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010990.pub2
  5. Benoist L, de Ruiter M, de Lange J et al. A randomized, controlled trial of positional therapy versus oral appliance therapy for position-dependent sleep apnea. Sleep Medicine. 2017;34:109-117. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2017.01.024
Cite

APA 7

Nefesly. (2026, October 18). Does sleeping on your side reduce snoring? Nefesly. Retrieved: 30 October 2026, https://nefesly.com/en/guide/does-sleeping-on-your-side-reduce-snoring/

BibTeX

@misc{nefesly2026doessleepingonyoursidereducesnoring,
  author = {{Nefesly}},
  title = {Does sleeping on your side reduce snoring?},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://nefesly.com/en/guide/does-sleeping-on-your-side-reduce-snoring/}},
  note = {Last updated 2026-10-29; accessed 2026-10-30}
}

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Corrections

  • 2026-10-23: English version published.
  • 2026-10-29: For children layer added.

Disclosure: This article has no sponsor.