Sleep apnea robs you of quality sleep and can destroy your health. If you want stay fit and active, it is critical that you get sufficient amounts of rest. Sleep apnea is treatable and you can find ways to ensure that you get the sleep that you need. The information below will help you learn how to deal with your sleep apnea.
Playing music on a wind instrument can be beneficial to your sleep apnea problems. Research done by specialists in Germany indicates you can train your muscles in the upper airway by playing the didgeridoo. This muscle group manages airway dilation and stiffening. These are great reasons to take up playing this instrument and easing the symptoms of sleep disorders.
Give up some of your vices to combat the symptoms of sleep apnea. Drinking and smoking are a couple of the biggest concerns. Alcohol relaxes the muscles in the throat, which restricts the airway while a person sleeps. When you smoke, you fill your lungs with carcinogens and cause severe damage. When you stop doing these things, your sleep apnea symptoms should be reduced.
Have your dentist fit you for a custom mouth guard. Guards such as these were designed for someone who suffers with sleep apnea. It provides a more comfortable option to using a CPAP machine. A mouth guard works by keeping airways open and giving the soft tissues stability.
Shedding some excess pounds is a good idea if you’re overweight. Obesity is linked to sleep apnea according to certain studies. If you are obese, lose at least 20 pounds to see if it makes a change for the better with your sleep apnea. It will also help ward off other medical conditions, too.
Do not drink alcohol often. Alcohol relaxes your muscles in a way that harms your breathing. People who are addicted to alcohol may learn that this is the cause of their apnea, and others who drink sporadically should know it affects them, too. Your throat muscles are relaxed by alcohol, making it harder to breathe at night. If you are a person who needs a drink sometimes, then aim to not drink it very frequently. Definitely do not drink any immediately before hitting the sheets at night.
Sleep Apnea
Look for alternatives to sleeping pills. Sleeping pills carry the risk of throat relaxation, much the same as alcohol does. There are a variety of other problems that they can cause as well, so be cautious of using them. Think about asking your physician about ways you can get to sleep that will not affect your apnea.
If you want to find relief from sleep apnea, pick up a wind instrument. A German study has shown that playing wind instruments such as the digeridoo will help your sleep apnea. These muscles control the dilation of your airway and the stiffening of the airway walls. Therefore, you should regularly play these instruments due to the fact that they decrease your sleep apnea symptoms.
Do your best to sleep off your back and on your side. It’s not uncommon for many with sleep apnea to sleep while laying on their back. Your airway can get blocked if you sleep on your back. Sleeping on your side makes breathing significantly easier. Prop pillows on one side to prevent you from rolling on your back while sleeping.
Are you using a CPAP for your sleep apnea? If so, then you should try to utilize it a minimum of four hours per night. Some people find the machine difficult to get accustomed to. However, it needs to be used for four hours each night for it to be effective. If you still have trouble adjusting, get at least four hours and try to add more time each night.
If you have sleep apnea and your mouth keeps falling open while you sleep with your CPAP every night, try wearing a chin strap. A chin strap is a strap on fabric that can hold your mouth closed. If your mouth falls open when you sleep, your CPAP therapy won’t be effective. Use this device to try and solve the problem.
Attempt side sleeping. It’s not uncommon for many with sleep apnea to sleep while laying on their back. Your airway can get blocked if you sleep on your back. Making an effort to stay off your back will help to give you a better night of sleep. If you roll on your back when you sleep, try using pillows to stay on your side.
If you need to be hospitalized for some reason, be sure that you take your CPAP machine with you to the hospital. Your CPAP is set to your specifications so it will be easier for medical staff to help you out because you already have your own device. It already has your pressure settings dialed in, and your mask is something your used to wearing at night. Having your own familiar equipment eases the strangeness of being in the hospital, and helps you sleep more restfully.
To help diagnose your sleep apnea, your doctor may ask you to keep a sleep log. In it, you’ll record the number of hours you sleep, as well as any symptoms you have during the night. If you have a partner, you can find out about snoring issues, breathing issues or flailing limb issues. This will allow your doctor to see if you’re suffering from sleep apnea.
Shed pounds if you want to get rid of your sleep apnea. Lots of people have found they can eliminate their sleep apnea by dropping all their excess fat. Losing even just five pounds can make your sleep apnea symptoms go away.
A medical ID is a must for those being assisted by a CPAP machine. This will let emergency personnel and others know you use a CPAP for sleep apnea. The ID should say that you have this condition, you require a CPAP, and it should identify the pressure levels you require for effective treatment.
A good nasal spray can be helpful if you are having trouble breathing. This product should help clear your airways for a night or two. However, you should not use these sprays for an extended period of time to avoid irritation. Your pharmacy can offer a variety of solutions or options to clear your air passages as you sleep.
Sleep apnea symptoms can be worse if you also have allergies or other sinus related issues. It’s already hard for you to breathe when you sleep due to your condition. You don’t want to have anything else that hinders your breathing while you sleep. You’ll experience a better night of sleep and reduce the odds of running into serious breathing difficulties if you take care of nasal and sinus issues without delay.
Consider a snoring device. When the airway is mostly closed, snoring occurs. Apnea on the other hand, occurs when the airway is completely closed. As you can guess, devices that help one will help with the other. If you have mild sleep apnea, an anti-snoring device may be enough to help with your condition.
Use a single, normal-sized pillow for sleeping. Having too many pillows, or one gigantic one, may interfere with good breathing posture. As a result, you may find it more difficult to breathe normally. Because of this, you should only sleep with a single pillow to combat sleep apnea.
You can reduce the risk factors for sleep apnea. Certain risk factors are ones you can do nothing about it, like inheriting genetic traits or having been born a man. However, many other risk factors can be cut out, like being overweight, a smoker or a heavy drinker.
You should get a machine to stop snoring. Sleep apnea occurs when air passages are totally obstructed, but snoring is the result of majority closure where air still gets through what is left. If you can reduce the snoring, it is possible you can keep your airways open. Devices that reduce or eliminate snoring can lessen sleep apnea symptoms.
If you have sleep apnea, you shouldn’t smoke. This irritation causes narrow air passages that make breathing difficult. Common ways to quit smoking include smoking cessation programs and nicotine replacement products, such as gums. Getting through the first month is the toughest. Once that happens, nicotine leaves your system and cravings begin dissipating.
Many people can reduce the severity of their sleep apnea symptoms by losing excess weight. Sleep apnea is far more frequent in obese individuals with bigger necks. Pressure on the neck is reduced with weight loss, making breathing easier while sleeping.
Exercises done with the tongue reduce sleep apnea symptoms. Try holding your tongue up toward the roof of your mouth for at least three minutes. This can improve the strength of your tongue and throat muscles and decrease the chance that they will relax too much and cause breathing difficulty.
Drinking Alcohol
Learn to play a woodwind instrument. You can pick up a new skill, but more than that you are able to exercise and learn to control the very muscles that have to do with breathing. If you consistently make an effort to strengthen your throat muscles, you’ll have a better time sleeping with sleep apnea.
Don’t drink a lot of alcohol if you have sleep apnea. When drinking alcohol it causes the muscles in your throat to relax, which results in snoring and blocked airways. You should either cease drinking alcohol or reduce your consumption to no more than a couple of drinks before dinner. In this way, the alcohol will not disturb your sleep.
Talk to your doctor before using a humidifier, mouth guard or nasal strips in conjunction with your CPAP sleep mask. When your sleeping in conditions of warm and moist air, you will most likely adhere to the CPAP therapy. Lots of CPAP machines have humidifiers built in. Check with your doctor to see if he or she can prescribe a humidifier for you.
If you sleep on your back you will worsen your sleep apnea. One way to keep yourself off your back while you sleep is to sew a pocket into the back of your pajamas and tuck something lumpy into it (a tennis ball is ideal). Doing this will make sleeping on your back very uncomfortable.
If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, give up sleeping facing up. When you sleep on your back, you can obstruct your air passages and complicate your sleep patterns. Try sleeping on your side, however, if this is not natural to you, then prop yourself up with pillows in order to force yourself into sleeping on your side every night.
Many methods can be used effectively to treat sleep apnea. You can return to the kind of healthy, natural sleep you want if you try out some of the preceding suggestions. After you start sleeping normally again you will see your whole life change.
Sometimes it is possible to treat sleep apnea using devices that attach to the mouth. This is because some people’s jaws are shaped in a way that makes the airways naturally narrow. More air can enter the airway if a corrective device is used to reposition the jaw.