If you are dealing with sleep apnea, you are fully aware of how it can ruin your chances of getting a good night’s sleep while also making your health suffer. Getting enough sleep is important for daily energy as well as helping to ward off certain life-threatening medical conditions. Luckily, there are effective treatment options for sleep apnea. Continue on and learn about some great way to help you control your sleep apnea.
You can really cut back on your sleep apnea by giving up alcohol and smoking. Alcohol relaxes the tongue and throat muscles, which can cause them to block your airway; smoking inflames the airway, causing it to narrow. Both of these habits can cause snoring and apnea. Unlike costly surgeries or other medical interventions, dropping these habits will actually save you money.
Give up some of your vices to combat the symptoms of sleep apnea. Alcohol and cigarettes are two of the primary culprits. Drinking relaxes your airway to prevent proper breathing. Smoking, of course, causes both long and short term damage to your lungs and airways, as well as putting you at risk for cancer. Quitting both of these habits completely will really alleviate your symptoms.
You must use your CPAP at least 4 hours nightly after receiving your unit. Some individuals have a lot of trouble getting used to CPAP masks in their sleep. However, in order to be effective, the CPAP has to be used for four hour every night. If you have a tough time with it, be sure you have the right size mask, and that the pressure is working right.
If you’re having a problem with sleep apnea and are a smoker or a drinker, you may find that quitting can help you immensely. Both of these habits have a negative effect on the muscles in your airway. Instead of costly surgery or some other medical procedure, losing these bad habits is the best way to save yourself money and address this condition.
The two main pieces of information used to diagnose sleep apnea are personal medical histories and a physical work-up. Your general practitioner may order a sleep study. Based upon this, he or she may give you a referral for a sleep specialist. Sleep specialists focus primarily on the diagnosis and treatment of people with sleep disorders.
Sleep Apnea
Be sure to treat allergies and sinus issues right away if you suffer from sleep apnea. You already find it hard to breathe during the night because of your symptoms. You don’t need to deal with anything that will affect your breathing when you sleep. It is important to keep your airways open and free from mucous and debris.
If you are fat, become thinner. Studies show that sleep apnea symptoms are more common in people who are overweight. You may cure sleep apnea by just shedding twenty pounds.
If your current treatment options are not cutting it, speak to a doctor about additional techniques that may be suitable. If you do not have success with standard treatments, you may have to consider surgery, such as a tonsillectomy or airway enlargement.
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. It can be extremely difficult for some patients to get used to sleeping with a CPAP. A minimum of four hours per night is needed, if your CPAP machine is going to help you. If you find it hard to get used to your CPAP, use it for only 4 hours at a go.
Although professional medical advice is always warranted in treating sleep apnea, you can try out a few treatments on your own, too. Avoiding smoking and losing weight are good for anyone, but especially those with sleep apnea. Also, don’t drink alcohol or consume caffeine too close to bedtime.
In an effort to get a restful night of sleep, sleep on your side if possible. Our airways can get obstructed if we sleep while on our backs. Try to fall asleep on your side instead and use a pillow if needed. It may relieve some symptoms.
Don’s sleep on your back if you are suffering from sleep apnea. Most people with sleep apnea tend to snooze lying face-up, and this can cause the airways to be more susceptible to interference. To prevent yourself from rolling over while you sleep, use pillows or cushions.
Sleeping Pills
Working out your tongue can help treat your sleep apnea symptoms. The process is to simply press the tongue against the roof of the mouth and maintain this for at least three minutes. Your tongue and throat muscles will become stronger by doing this, making it less likely that your airways are blocked as you sleep.
Try something besides sleeping pills. Sleeping pills will just make you snore more by relaxing the muscles in the throat. Natural sleep aids, such as melatonin, are much safer. There are ways to get to sleep that won’t have a negative effect on your breathing; ask your doctor for advice.
If sleep apnea afflicts you, don’t drink too much. When you drink alcohol, your throat becomes excessively relaxed. This can cause snoring, airway blockage and sleep apnea. Therefore, consider quitting your drinking habit, or only drink around 1-2 drinks each day hours before going to bed. Doing so will minimize the chance that alcohol will interfere with your sleep.
If you suffer from sleep apnea, have a regular bedtime. Your sleeping pattern is already thrown off by this sleep disorder. If you can get on a better scheducle you will help your symptoms. The best thing you can do is fall asleep around the same time each night and wake up around the same time each day.
Snoring and sleep apnea can be soothed by playing a musical instrument. In studies, wind instruments have proven beneficial to reducing the symptoms associated with sleep apnea. This new craft will help you keep control of your airways.
Get a chin strap to keep your mouth closed when you are sleeping with a CPAP or BIPAP machine. This strap is a small strip of material that holds up your chin while you sleep, thus keeping your mouth closed. Use this device to solve this annoying problem, as leaving it unfixed will make your CPAP therapy ineffective.
If sleep apnea is something that you are afflicted with, you might want to try the throat exercises known to improve the condition. You can strengthen the muscles of your air passages, letting them be more likely not to collapse. One example is to hold your tongue against the top of your mouth for three minutes. Do this once a day.
If your current treatment options are not cutting it, speak to a doctor about additional techniques that may be suitable. If less invasive treatments do not work, it is sometimes necessary to perform surgical procedures such as adenoid and tonsil removal and/or airway enlargement.
If you suspect that you might have sleep apnea, see your doctor and get a referral for a sleep study. The sleep test can determine whether you actually have sleep apnea or not. After this you’ll need to look at treatment options, even for a mild form of sleep apnea.
Stick with a single ordinary pillow when you go to sleep. Your head position can be altered from the optimal sleeping position when you use oversized or multiple pillows. This means that your position is actually making it harder for you to breathe. This means that one pillow is most appropriate to help alleviate your sleeping concerns.
Because apnea is not a problem of the nose, but rather a problem of the throat, making the throat stronger can have positive effects on controlling apnea symptoms. If you are interested in learning more about how to strengthen your throat, there are dozens of quick exercises that can be done.
You can cut down on the sleep apnea symptoms you experience by making your throat muscles stronger. Sleep apnea is commonly caused by the throat becoming obstructed because the soft tissues collapse near the back of your throat. If your muscles are stronger, their chances of collapsing and blocking your airways are minimized.
A good portion of those who suffer from sleep apnea are back sleepers. If this applies to you, try switching the position you sleep in. Sleeping on your sides helps keep your airways straight, which reduces apnea during sleep.
Now after reading the above information, you should be aware of some helpful solutions to deal with sleep apnea. Use everything you got from these article to reduce sleep apnea symptoms. You may be surprised by how dramatic a difference it makes in your life to be well-rested and energized at the start of the day.
Chronic fatigue can aggravate sleep apnea symptoms. To reduce your sleep apnea symptoms, be sure to follow a regular sleep routine. Try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day. You can avoid further complications, such as insomnia, this way.