Sleep Apnea Treatment – What You Need to Know About Each Option
Thanks to advances in science, sleep apnea treatment has come a long way over the years. However, sleep apnea is not a problem that you can solve on your own. For a truly effective sleep apnea treatment, you will have to see a doctor.
How do you know you have sleep apnea?
If you wake up choking, gagging, or short of breath in the middle of the night, sleep apnea could be to blame. People who suffer from it temporarily stop breathing while they sleep – sometimes as much as a few hundred times a night!
When you suffer from sleep apnea, it can be incredibly disruptive for both you and your partner. When you stop breathing, it will wake you up – which means you will not be able to get a restful, peaceful, continuous sleep. Plus, people with sleep apnea snore – which may prevent your partner from sleeping.
Aside from being disruptive, sleep apnea can also be downright dangerous. When you stop breathing – even though it is only for a few seconds – you are depriving your brain and your other vital organs of oxygen. If your organs suffer from enough oxygen deprivation, it can lead to serious health problems like high blood pressure, strokes, and heart disease.
So, how do you fix the problem?
As soon as you realize there is a problem, you need to talk to your doctor. He is the only one that can positively diagnose you with sleep apnea.
Once you know you have it, there are several different sleep apnea treatments out there. Here’s what you need to know about each one of them:
1. CPAP
A CPAP – or a Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure device – is usually the first sleep apnea treatment that doctors opt for because it is much less invasive than surgery.
Similar to a mask, a CPAP pumps a constant stream of air into your nasal passages while you sleep. That stream of air will keep your breathing passages open so that you do not stop breathing during the night.
The most common CPAPs fit over your nose, while more extensive CPAPs fit over your nose and mouth. Most CPAPs are about the same size as a box of tissues.
CPAPs are carefully crafted to be light and quiet, so that they don’t keep you awake. After all, the machine would do no good if it was so loud and bulky that you couldn’t sleep while you were wearing it!
While they are usually very effective, CPAPs can also cause some minor side effects, such as:
- Dry nose
- Sore throat
- Congestion
- Facial irritation
- Bizarre dreams
In very rare cases, a CPAP can cause nosebleeds. If that happens, talk to your doctor. Or, if it feels like your CPAP is leaking, talk to your doctor. It could be a sign that your CPAP doesn’t fit right.
When you first start your sleep apnea treatment with a CPAP, you might be uncomfortable –especially when you wake up in the morning. However, that discomfort shouldn’t last long. If you cannot get used to your CPAP after a few days, talk to your doctor.
A CPAP is designed as a moderate to severe sleep apnea treatment. If you have mild sleep apnea, a CPAP might not work for you.
2. Dental devices
If a CPAP isn’t successful, your doctor will likely try a dental device next.
When used as a sleep apnea treatment, these devices may fit right inside your mouth like an athletic mouth guard, or they might slide over your head and around your chin to put your lower jaw into a better position. Usually, doctors will try the mouth guard first, because it is less invasive than the type that slides over your head.
If you need one of these dental devices, your dentist will have to professionally fit you for it. And, you will have to go back regularly to make sure that it is working properly.
These dental devices can cause some minor side effects, including:
- Saliva build-up
- Soreness in your mouth or jaw
- Nausea
- A permanent movement of your jaw or teeth
3. Sleep apnea surgery
Because it is so invasive, surgery is considered the last resort of sleep apnea treatment. Doctors will usually try every other kind of treatment before they make you go under the knife. However, if your sleep apnea is serious enough, surgery may be the only way to correct it.
During sleep apnea surgery, your doctor will do one of three things:
- If the problem lies in your nose or sinuses, your doctor can literally make your air passages bigger.
- If the problem lies in your throat, your doctor may decide to remove your tonsils or get rid of excess throat tissue so that air can move more freely through the area.
- Your doctor may even need to reconstruct your jaw, so that it does not infringe on your air passages.
These are the most common sleep apnea treatments. Visit this page for info on how to stop snoring.
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