Concerned About Sleep Drooling? Here’s What You Need to Know

Dr. Ellie Shares Her Insight: Experiencing drooling while you sleep might seem embarrassing, but it’s a fairly common occurrence and often a sign of nighttime breathing difficulties.

Typically, drooling happens due to the relaxation of facial muscles during slumber. While it’s not unusual, understanding why it happens can ease your concerns.

Some medications could be the culprits behind this nighttime nuisance. Sedatives like diazepam and opioid painkillers are known to cause drooling. Antipsychotic drugs, such as clozapine and risperidone, can also have this side effect.

In rare instances, persistent drooling might serve as an early warning for certain neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and dementia. However, the most prevalent reason for drooling is mouth breathing. Normally, we breathe through our nose when asleep, but nasal blockages can force us to breathe through our mouth, leading to drooling.

Drooling during sleep can be a sign of breathing difficulties in the night, writes DR ELLIE CANNON

One common cause of mouth breathing is chronic sinusitis, a condition where the sinuses and nasal passages become inflamed and swollen. Allergies to dust or pollen often trigger sinusitis. Fortunately, this can be managed by taking a daily antihistamine, which helps alleviate the symptoms.

Another option would be using a salt water spray or steam inhalation to unblock the nose – but decongestant drugs can make the problem worse. Many patients find that sleeping with a humidifier, that emits water vapour, can help with nasal congestion. And simply sleeping with an extra pillow can also make a big difference. This is because tilting the head forwards can hold the mouth closed, forcing the body to breathe through the nose and drool less.

I have terribly itchy ankles and calves. I’m 86 and it gets worse at night. What could be the cause?

Dr Ellie replies: Itching is a common side effect of several common medications: the cholesterol tablets statins, and drugs for an enlarged prostate, such as tamsulosin, and for high blood pressure, like lisinopril.

Other medicines include opioids, antibiotics, antifungals and nerve pain drug amitriptyline.

However, there are also medical conditions that can trigger leg itching, such as problems with the veins. With age, the veins in the lower legs become less effective at pumping blood, meaning it can sit in these veins for extended periods, and fluid can leak out into surrounding tissue. This can lead to itchy, dry and swollen skin.

This issue can also get worse at night. Patients with these issues often – but not always – have brown patches on their legs.

The best way to treat this is to tackle the underlying vein problem. It’s an issue that should be always be examined and diagnosed by a GP, as it’s linked to life-threatening heart problems.

There are also medicines that might be able to help with blood flow. However, two effective ways of improving blood flow in the legs are regular exercise and compression socks.

The itching could also be due to a skin problem such as eczema. Any patient with itchy legs should try regularly moisturising the skin with medical-grade moisturisers called emollients, which are available from most high street pharmacies.

My husband, 88, has a continual build up of ear wax that completely blocks his ear. He has them syringed every six weeks. What can he do to banish the problem for good?

Unfortunately, there are no permanent solutions to ear wax build-ups. But there are potential steps to mitigate the issue.

Ear wax is crucial to protect the inside of the ears from infection, but excessive levels of it can impact their hearing.

This tends to get worse later in life, as ear wax becomes drier and harder.

GP surgeries once offered ear wax-clearing procedures, however there is no NHS budget for this care any more.

Instead, patients will have to go to a private clinic – or a high street optician. The procedure typically involves using a small vacuum or water blast to flush out wax from the ear.

While effective, this usually costs around £60 – and often has to be repeated every few weeks.

A better option is stop the wax from building up in the first place, by regularly applying softening ear drops, usually made from olive oil or sodium bicarbonate.

These will loosen the wax, and should be used two to three times per week.

Don’t ignore these warning signs during menopause

Mel Schilling, who died from bowel cancer, initially put off seeing a doctor because she believed the symptoms were due to mid-life hormonal changes

I was devastated to read of the death of Mel Schilling at 54 from bowel cancer.

The relationship guru, of Married At First Sight fame, was diagnosed less than three years ago, but initially put off seeing a doctor because she believed the symptoms – including abdominal pain, constipation and fatigue – were due to mid-life hormonal changes.

However, anyone who has blood in their stool, persistent changes in bowel habits (such as constipation or diarrhoea), unexplained weight loss or ongoing abdominal pain, should see their GP.

Are you a woman who developed bowel cancer but, at first, mistook the symptoms for the menopause?

Please write in and let me know.

• If you have a question for Dr Ellie Cannon, write to DrEllie@mailonsunday.co.uk