Drooling in your sleep can have a number of causes.
In general, when you sleep, the muscles in your face and body relax.
Your mouth may fall open causing excess saliva to run out.
Luis Alvarez / Getty Images
Sleep position can affect whether or not you drool in your sleep.
It’s possible that your mouth is falling open as you sleep.
Is It Normal to Drool in My Sleep?
Drooling in your sleep is often totally normal.
However, if it happens suddenly and often or is excessive, it may signal a health condition.
If you’re congested because of a cold or allergies, you may begin to breathe through your mouth.
If this occurs in your sleep, you may drool on your pillow.
If you have a cold, try taking a decongestant or using a humidifier.
Deviated Septum
A deviated nasal septum can also be to blame for overnight drooling.
Inside your nose, a thin wall called a septum separates the two sides.
If you have an off-center or uneven septum, airflow on the narrower side could be partly blocked.
This may cause you to snore though your mouth, which can lead to drooling when you sleep.
Managing your deviated septum with medications or surgery called aseptoplastycan help reduce uncomfortable symptoms like drooling while sleeping.
See your dentist for a cleaning and thorough check-up.
Neurological Conditions
Some people produce excess saliva, a condition called sialorrhea.
Sialorrhea can be a result of:
These conditions can make it harder to swallow.
Speech therapy can strengthen your tongue and jaw muscles.
This can improve the stability of your jaw, increase tongue mobility, and improve swallowing.
All of these things can help reduce drooling.
Teeth Grinding
Nocturnalbruxism(teeth grinding at night) can be associated with drooling.
It can happen because you’re breathing through your mouth instead of your nose.
Congestion, your nasal anatomy, and sleep apnea can cause you to breathe through your mouth.
Sometimes people produce more saliva than they can swallow.
Medications and early pregnancy can cause this kind of overproduction.
Some health conditions make it harder to swallow, too, leading to drooling throughout the day.
2016;68(1):71-74. doi:10.1007/s12070-015-0922-8
MedlinePlus.Sleep apnea.
Adadan Guvenc I.Sialorrhea: a guide to etiology, assessment, and management.
2022;14(8):e28563.
2021;13(12):e20741.
doi:10.7759/cureus.20741
Parkinson’s Foundation.Drooling.
A systematic review and meta-analysis.Sleep Breath.
2018;20(9):573-575.
