If you suffer from sleep apnea, this is the article for you. If you do not treat sleep apnea, you may suffer dire health consequences; however, proper treatment can get sleep apnea under control. Use this article’s advice to help you cope with this condition.
Do you regularly smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol? Drop these unhealthy habits. These substances can really harm your airways. Smoking will cause your throat to swell, and alcohol will relax it too much. If you are unable to completely eliminate these habits, try to at least refrain from them in the hours directly before bed.
Excess weight is an issue that plays a negative role in many sleep apnea sufferers’ conditions. If you suffer from sleep apnea and are overweight, try losing a few pounds. Improving the overall health of the diet in combination with an increased level of exercise makes a simple, effective weight loss strategy. Carbohydrate restriction has been shown to help people lose weight in recent studies as well.
Sleep apnea is a serious health condition. If you experience symptoms of sleep apnea, don’t delay the conversation with your doctor. If the doctor determines you are suffering with sleep apnea, you should consult with someone who specializes in this disorder in order to effectively treat the condition.
Your doctor may recommend a mouth guard to help ease the breathing problems associated with sleep apnea. You might possess an airway that is naturally narrow, or you might have a recessed chin or small jaw. All of these can make the symptoms of sleep apnea seem more pronounced. Specialty devices can alter your position during sleep and more properly align jaw elements, giving you a much higher quality rest.
Give sleeping on your sides a try. Most people who have sleep apnea realize that they have been sleeping on their back too much. Sleeping on your back can cause the tissues in your mouth and throat to block your airway. Avoid sleeping on your back and go on your side to make breathing easier. If you tend to lay on your back while sleeping, prop yourself on your side using pillows.
If you’re using a CPAP, use it a minimum of four hours nightly. Some people have a really hard time sleeping with the device. However, you must use your CPAP a minimum of four hours for it to be effective. You’ll be comfortable using it on a regular basis in no time.
It is hard to know whether or not you are having difficulty breathing at night if you sleep alone. One way to see for yourself is to train a camcorder on yourself as you sleep. Whatever video system you set up also need an audio component, since your physicians are going to need to hear the sounds you make.
Sleep apnea has the potential for being a very serious disorder. If you feel some of the symptoms, then you need to consult a physician as quickly as you can. In the process of fully diagnosing your condition, you may be able to consult with a sleep specialist. Home sleep tests with portable monitors are also often used to pinpoint sleep apnea.
If you are using a CPAP and experience an issue with your mouth opening during sleep, a chin strap can help. This is a small piece of fabric that holds your chin up while you sleep and keeps you mouth closed. Your mouth must remain closed in order to get the best results from your CPAP therapy.
Try to sleep on your side instead of your back to breathe easier when you sleep. When you sleep on your back, the airways get obstructed due to the throat and nasal passages being more prone to obstruction. See if sleeping on your side doesn’t help your sleep apnea condition.
Try a device marketed to help with snoring. Snoring occurs if breathing passages become partially closed, and sleep apnea when they are closed entirely. One of these devices, therefore, targets both of these situations. Anti-snoring devices help you reduce apnea as you sleep.
When you have sleep apnea you can find out about it from tests your doctor will run. After taking all this information, your family doctor may send you to see a sleep specialist. This doctor specializes in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders, and he will quite likely order a sleep study.
Stop smoking cigarettes if you have sleep apnea. Your sleep apnea will worsen because smoking causes swelling in the upper respiratory system. Try out nicotine patches or gum to get rid of your sleep apnea. It is the initial 30 days that are the most trying. Once that happens, nicotine leaves your system and cravings begin dissipating.
Sleep Apnea
People that snore or have sleep apnea can play a musical instrument to help. This not only can help soothe your body, but it can also reduce the symptoms of sleep apnea. Your new hobby will enable you to finally get control over the air passages that effect breathing.
When sleep apnea is an issue, make sure to treat any allergies or problems with sinuses. Sleep apnea makes breathing during sleep hard. One issue is enough when battling for air when you are asleep. Eliminating your nasal problems maintains a clear airway, which will increase the chances that you will sleep better.
Corrective oral devices may be used to correct sleep apnea on occasion. That is due to the fact that some people have a jaw that naturally makes their airway narrow. Your jaw’s alignment is improved with corrective devices, allowing more air to flow.
If you have been trying for months to get rid of your sleep apnea, but have always come up short, then you are going to want to have a serious talk with your doctor. A lot of people do not do well on some of the treatments, requiring complicated surgeries to enhance their airway.
If you have sleep problems, then consult your doctor to find the root of them by getting a comprehensive sleep study. This test will determine if you have sleep apnea and how severe your condition is. After that, you will need to know how to treat the condition, even when suffering with a mild case.
As you learned in the above article, if you do not treat your sleep apnea it can really cause a lot of damage to your health. If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, you need to avail yourself of the information available about this debilitating condition. By studying the tips in this article and applying them to your life, you can ensure that you are doing everything you can to protect your health.
Try not to sleep on your back with sleep apnea. Sleeping in this position increases the odds that your airways will collapse at some point, which will cause sleep apnea. To avoid the affects of gravity, sleeping on your side gives the best results.