Useful Tips on How to Stop Drooling in Sleep

Read this article to learn how to stop drooling in sleep. Discover tips on managing excessive drooling, its causes and impact on sleep and health.

You’re here because you’re tired of waking up to a pillow damp with drool. Well, you’re not alone. Granted, it might feel embarrassing or annoying; it’s a normal physiological process and nothing to be self-conscious about.

Drooling occurs when saliva involuntarily escapes from your mouth. You typically swallow saliva automatically throughout the day. However, at night, your swallowing reflexes lessen, causing saliva to accumulate and seep out. Drooling can intensify due to your sleeping position, health condition and medications.

When drooling is excessive, it’s known as nocturnal sialorrhea. It can be bothersome and even mess with sleep quality. Thankfully, there are ways to minimize excessive nighttime drooling. (And that’s what you’ll learn in this article!)

Key Takeaways

Here are the key points of this blog post:

• Drooling in your sleep is generally expected and nothing to be ashamed of. However, if it's persistent and excessive, consult a healthcare provider. It may be a sign of an underlying health condition.

• Your sleeping position, nasal congestion, sleep apnea, and other factors can cause hypersalivation (or excessive drooling).

• Excessive drooling can harm your health, including your sleep quality.

• Certain neurological disorders, oral abnormalities, GERD and sleep apnea are linked to excessive drooling.

• You can manage drooling during sleep with lifestyle changes and alternative and home remedies. Severe cases may require professional intervention.

What Causes Excessive Saliva Production?

Before anything else, let’s tackle the causes of hypersalivation (or excessive saliva production). Here are some factors that contribute to this condition.

1. Sleeping Position: Side or stomach sleeping increases the chances of drooling. These positions let gravity pull saliva from your mouth.

2. Nasal Congestion: Excessive saliva production occurs when allergies, sinus infections or other respiratory conditions obstruct your nasal passages. These compel you to breathe through your mouth, leading to a dry mouth and more saliva production. (Btw, here’s more on how to sleep when allergies hit.)

3. Medications: According to PennMedicine, some medicines have side effects that increase saliva production. These include those used to treat psychiatric disorders, Alzheimer’s, and myasthenia gravis⁽¹⁾.  

4. Neurological Conditions: Medical conditions like stroke, cerebral palsy, or Parkinson's disease can impair the muscles responsible for swallowing, resulting in drooling.

5. Sleep Disorders: Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a condition marked by breathing pauses, often leading to mouth breathing and, consequently, drooling.

Understanding what can potentially cause excessive drooling will help you determine and address its underlying issue.

What Are the Negative Consequences of Hypersalivation?

As we mentioned earlier, drooling when you sleep is normal. But hypersalivation isn’t, especially when it disrupts your sleep quality (not to mention overall health).

1. Sleep Disruptions: Wetness on your sheets or pillows can wake you multiple times throughout the night, disrupting your zzzs. Note that waking up more than once during the night harms sleep quality.

2. Skin Irritation: Prolonged exposure to saliva may cause skin irritation (e.g., rashes) on the face, neck and chest. Skin irritation can cause discomfort and itching.

3. Embarrassment: Drooling while you sleep can feel embarrassing, especially when sharing your bed.

4. Dehydration: Overproduction of saliva can result in dehydration. Your body loses fluids through drooling.

5. Respiratory Issues: In certain instances, excessive drooling can increase the chances of inhaling saliva into the lungs, which may result in respiratory infections or other complications.

What Are the Medical Conditions Linked to Drooling During Sleep?

Sure, occasional drooling while sleeping is expected. However, as mentioned earlier, it could also indicate an underlying health issue.

For one, it could be a sign of sleep apnea, a sleep disorder characterized by breathing pauses due to an obstructed airway. Breathing starts and stops, leading to mouth breathing, which can result in excessive drooling.

GERD is also linked to hypersalivation. Stomach acid travels up from the stomach, making its way into the esophagus and mouth. For those experiencing hypersalivation, the salivary glands become hyperactive, resulting in an overproduction of saliva as the acid ascends.

Excessive drooling may also indicate structural abnormalities in the nasal passages, mouth and throat, such as adenoids or enlarged tonsils. You may also want to get a dental checkup because cavities can also cause hypersalivation.

Neurological disorders can affect the muscles used for swallowing, causing saliva overproduction. A study in ScienceDirect says, “Drooling may occur in many neurological disorders including neuromuscular diseases such as myasthenia gravis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and oculopharyngeal muscular dystrophy, neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD), multiple system atrophy (MSA), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and cerebrovascular diseases.⁽²⁾”

We’ve said it once, and we’ll repeat it again: if you’re experiencing persistent or excessive drooling while you sleep, seek advice from your doctor. This will help rule out underlying medical issues and get the right treatment.

Tips for How to Stop Drooling During Sleep

Now that you know its potential causes and consequences, let's dive right into how to stop drooling during sleep.  

Lifestyle Changes to Manage Drooling in Your Sleep

It may be a question of making some tweaks to your sleep. Here are a few to try:

First, try changing your sleeping position. Sleep on your back to prevent saliva from accumulating in your mouth. Casper states, “The logic behind switching to back sleeping can be traced directly to the laws of gravity, since drool is most likely to come from your mouth when it’s angled downward.⁽³⁾”

Another is to drink enough water during the daytime. This practice helps maintain moisture in your mouth and throat, which minimizes saliva production.

Steer clear of booze and sedatives, too. These can relax the muscles responsible for swallowing, which increases the chances of drooling while asleep.

If you suffer from congestion, consider a humidifier, saline nasal sprays or non-prescription decongestants to relieve nasal congestion. Breathing through your mouth can increase saliva production.

Finally, cultivate good sleep hygiene, meaning a consistent sleep routine and sleep in a cool, quiet, dark bedroom. Oh, and limit gadget use before bed. Remember that light signals your brain that it's time to be awake. Darkness does the opposite. (Tip: If you sleep in a bright environment, try using a high-quality sleep mask to block out 100% of light.)

Alternative & Home Remedies for Managing Hypersalivation

Now, let’s move on to home remedies for managing drooling during sleep.

Practice good dental hygiene! This means regular tooth brushing. Gargle with over-the-counter mouthwashes containing glycerin or xylitol. These can reduce the production of excessive saliva.

Special mouth guards or oral sleep appliances can keep your mouth closed during sleep, thus preventing drooling. They’re called mandibular devices. According to the Sleep Foundation, they “are a type of appliance you wear in your mouth while you sleep. They are designed to help reduce drooling, snoring, and teeth grinding by keeping your lips closed and your tongue and teeth in the right place.⁽⁴⁾”

A lesser-known method for controlling excessive drooling is acupuncture. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), excessive drooling is linked to phlegm buildup. When phlegm blocks sensory pathways, it causes drooling.

Me & Qi says acupoints like “Yuzhong KID-26 and Youmen KID-21 on the Kidney Channel can help subdue rebellious Qi and open the chest, which in turn can reduce drooling. Additionally, points like Dicang ST-4 on the Stomach Channel are used to expel Wind and clear channel obstructions, potentially alleviating drooling.⁽⁵⁾”

What Are Professional Treatments for Persistent Drooling?

If lifestyle adjustments and alternative or home-based solutions don’t work, your doctor might recommend treatments to address hypersalivation. These options may include:

1. Prescription Medications: Medicines like anticholinergic drugs or botulinum toxin injections effectively minimize saliva production.

2. Surgical Procedures: Medical interventions like removing salivary glands or duct ligation might be considered to reduce saliva production. Note that these are for severe cases.

3. Speech and Swallowing Therapy: If you’re experiencing excessive drooling due to a neurological disorder or a swallowing issue, speech and swallowing therapy can help enhance muscle coordination and control.

4. Salivary Gland Radiotherapy: Radiation therapy may sometimes shrink overactive salivary glands and reduce saliva production.

It’s important to remember that a certified healthcare provider should supervise professional treatments, which can pose potential risks and adverse effects.

Conclusion

We hope this blog post answered your question on how to stop drooling in sleep. Keep in mind that it’s generally normal unless it’s persistent and severe. The methods mentioned in this blog post can effectively manage it.

Understanding the root causes, treating underlying health conditions, and making specific lifestyle tweaks can help. Alternative and home remedies and medical procedures (when necessary) can help you get the deep and restful zzzs you deserve.

Did the techniques in this article help reduce drooling during sleep? Let us know by dropping a comment below.

Sources:  

(1) “Why Am I Drooling? 4 Causes of Excessive Drooling.” PennMedicine, www.pennmedicine.org/updates/blogs/health-and-wellness/2018/october/drooling. Accessed 3 August 2024.

(2) “Drooling in Parkinson's disease: A review.” ScienceDirect, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353802014003113. Accessed 2 August 2024.

(3) “How To Stop Drooling In Your Sleep: 7 Tips.” Casper, casper.com/blog/how-to-stop-drooling-in-your-sleep/. Accessed 3 August 2024.

(4) “Why Do You Drool In Your Sleep? Causes and Remedies Explained.” Sleep Foundation, science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/extrasensory-perceptions/feve-dream-meaning.htm. Accessed 3 August 2024.

(5) “Drooling according to TCM.” Me & Qi, www.meandqi.com/symptoms/drooling. Accessed 3 August 2024.

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