Sleeping well is the route to a healthy and productive lifestyle. However, many issues can obstruct sleep time and quality, causing serious lifestyle changes and issues. One such problem is sleep apnea, which can become a serious issue during sleep.
What is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea can potentially be a serious sleeping disorder relating to the breathing pattern during sleeping. People who snore very loudly or face serious fatigue after waking up may also get diagnosed with sleep apnea. Before discussing inspire for sleep apnea and sleep potential apnea treatments, it is important to determine the different types of sleep apnea that a person can face:
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea: One of the most common forms of sleep apnea is related to the relaxation of throat muscles.
- Central Sleep Apnea: Here, your brain may fail to send proper directions to your muscles regarding breathing during sleep.
- Complex Sleep Apnea Syndrome: Here, the person simultaneously suffers from obstructive and central sleep apnea.
How is Sleep Apnea Diagnosed?
The main way sleep apnea is diagnosed is based on the visible signs and symptoms and the patient’s sleep history. Details may be collected from households or spouses for better insight into the issue. Sleep apnea machines may be utilized for the testing as well. The most common testing methods are as follows:
- Nocturnal Polysomnography: Usually, a sleep apnea machine is used during this test to monitor the heart, brain, and lungs of the patient. The prime focus is to determine your breathing patterns, bodily movements, and oxygen level during sleep. This method is considered the formal diagnosis for the disorder.
- Sleep apnea test at home: Simplified tests to conduct at home may be recommended by your sleep doctor as well. These tests focus on the airflow and blood oxygen levels during sleep. However, such devices may not detect all the problems related to sleep apnea. Therefore, it is important o get the nocturnal polysomnography first.
Different Treatment Options for Sleep Apnea
Currently, there are many different treatment options for sleep apnea based on the type and intensity of the issue. Most doctors recommend changing your lifestyle and avoiding smoking for very mild sleep apnea cases. Also, people with nasal allergies may take anti-allergens to correct the issue. However, many other sleep apnea oral devices exist if the simpler treatments can’t provide any real benefits.
- Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP): This mouthpiece for sleep apnea is very beneficial for people with moderate sleep apnea levels. Here, you wear a mask that increases the air pressure delivered to your nose during sleep time. This extra air pressure helps keep the air passage open, ensuring that sleep apnea and snoring do not occur. Although this method is practiced often, people may face severe discomfort with the machine. If you can’t feel comfortable, contact your doctor to suggest an alternative.
- Sleep Apnea Oral Appliances: Oral appliances are designed specifically to help your throat muscles stay open. Your jaw is pushed forward to reduce the obstruction in your breathing passageway. Most dentists have several such devices to recommend. It is preferable to consider your dentist’s advice on the best device that will suit your requirements.
- Adaptive Servo-ventilation (ASV): This airflow device has been recently approved because it helps restore the bodily function involved in normal breathing. Here, the airway is opened naturally to ensure that your sleeping pattern revitalizes and becomes more adapted to the normal breathing routines.
- Associated Medical Problems: One key issue is that breathing issues may also cause serious heart and neuromuscular disorders. It is best to consider treatment for the associated problems concurrently for these issues. Otherwise, the other problems can exasperate over time.
Surgery for Sleep Apnea
In very severe cases, the last resort for people may be to consider having surgery for sleep apnea. This surgery involves three types of processes, which can be chosen based on what resonates best with the patient’s condition:
- Tissue removal: The uvulopalatopharyngoplasty option is where the tissue that causes the blockage in your air passageway is surgically removed. This way, your throat can perform as it should for nocturnal breathing better without blockage issues.
- Tissue shrinkage: Tissue shrinkage is another option adopted to help with moderate levels of sleep apnea. However, the procedure may not be effective in severe sleep apnea cases.
- Jaw repositioning: In this case, your jaw is repositioned to ensure that the blockage in the air passageway is naturally removed.
Many other surgery options are available to ensure that you can sleep better when suffering from sleep apnea.
Conclusion
Consider checking out the various treatment options mentioned in this article if you suffer from sleep apnea. Contact us today for more information.
