Feeling tired after a full night’s rest? You may have sleep apnea!
It’s a serious sleeping condition that affects your breathing, and it can lead to other health risks if left untreated.
Diagnosing and treating it is vital to your health – and a good night’s rest!
What Exactly is Sleep Apnea?
It can cause your breathing to stop and start while sleeping. This can happen many times in an hour, causing you to wake up in the morning feeling fatigued even though you should be feeling rested.
The disruption to your breathing can happen in two ways:
- Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) – Air movement gets blocked due to your throat muscles relaxing, causing pressure on your windpipe. This is the most common way.
- Central sleep apnea (CSA) – This is when your brain does not send signals for your breathing muscles to work while asleep.
Symptoms
You may notice some symptoms on your own, but many can be spotted by the person sleeping next to you. Here are the signs to look out for:
- Gasping for air in your sleep
- Loud snoring
- Daytime drowsiness
- Unusual breathing patterns during sleep
- Insomnia
- Morning headaches
- Dry mouth or sore throat upon waking
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
Any of the above sound familiar? It may be time to consult a healthcare professional!
Diagnosing Sleep Apnea
A healthcare professional will ask you questions about your symptoms and medical history before issuing a test. The test could be one of two options:
- Polysomnogram: An overnight study where your breathing, heart rate, blood oxygen levels, brain waves, etc., will be monitored
- Home test: This is an overnight study done at home. Although a little more comfortable, this test has limitations for testing brain waves, therefore being less reliable for diagnosing central sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea Treatment Options
Although it’s not curable, sleep apnea is very manageable.
These are some treatment recommendations:
- A breathing device called the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) machine. Patients may find this uncomfortable and noisy.
- A mouthpiece that repositions your jaw to open your airways. It’s a great alternative to the CPAP machine since it’s quiet and comfortable.
- Adjusting your sleeping positions to allow for more air flow.
- A neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) device to prevent your tongue airway muscles from blocking air flow.
- Medications
- Surgery
At Metro Dental Health, we collaborate with medical sleep specialists to provide treatment options based on your diagnosis. Need treatment? Check out our page: Sleep Apnea Treatment
Sleeping doesn’t have to be this hard! With some lifestyle changes and treatment, you’ll be sleeping peacefully again.
Do you or a loved one have sleep apnea? We provide a comfortable, easy-to-use treatment option! Book an appointment with us, and we’ll be happy to help you get your beauty sleep on track.
