If you have sleep apnea, you understand how troublesome it can be. It is very important that in order to lead a happy and healthy life, you are getting a good amount of quality sleep each night. Luckily you can learn about some ways to help you get through sleep apnea. Continue reading to get more information on sleep apnea and how it can be treated.
Avoid unhealthy activities to control your sleep apnea. The worst thing you can do to contribute to sleep apnea by drinking and smoking. Drinking relaxes your airway to prevent proper breathing. Smoking adds harmful chemicals which damage your lungs over time. These are both habits which can make sleep apnea worse.
Bad Habits
If you have sleep apnea, consider learning how to play a wind instrument. Researchers around the world have implied that the musical instrument, the didgeridoo, can be used to make airway muscles stronger. Muscles in this area stiffen the airway walls and control the dilation. Because weaknesses in these muscles can cause apnea, playing regularly may actually help you sleep better at night.
Do you regularly smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol? Lose all your bad habits. These substances can really harm your airways. Alcohol relaxes your airways, and tobacco causes it to swell. If you find that you just can’t give these bad habits up, do what you can to not do either of them within four hours of your bedtime.
To keep your sleep apnea in check, eat a healthy diet to lose weight. A lot of people are surprised that a bad diet can affect sleep apnea. It’s been proven that poor diets can contribute to the severity of sleep apnea.
If you have sleep apnea, consider learning how to play a wind instrument. In Germany, research has been done that suggests playing the didgeridoo will train the muscles of the upper airway. These muscles control the dilation of your airway and the stiffening of the airway walls. Because of this, regular playing of this instrument can aid sleep by reducing the various symptoms that sleep apnea produces.
Try sleeping on your side to prevent sleep apnea from robbing you of a good night’s sleep. Sleeping on your back can block your airway. Try very hard to rest on your side, and you may find your symptoms alleviated.
Sleep on your side if you want to avoid sleep apnea. When lying on your back, your throat and nasal passages can obstruct your airways. Give sleeping on your side a try, and see if your symptoms improve.
If you have sleep apnea, never take sleeping pills. You could seriously damage your air passage ways if you take them while you have sleep apnea. This can be deadly when combined with sleep apnea. Sleeping pills are a bad idea.
If you suffer from sleep apnea, you should treat any sinus or allergy problems you may have. Sleep apnea makes breathing during sleep hard. You don’t want any other complications. Maintaining free nasal passages will ensure greater odds of sleeping getting a great night’s sleep.
Try using a chin strap if your mouth falls open when you sleep while using a CPAP each night. It is a simple cloth strap that can easily hold up your chin as you sleep. If you keep your mouth open your CPAP will not work.
If you are not getting relief from your sleep apnea treatment methods, consult your physician for more serious options. If you do not have success with standard treatments, you may have to consider surgery, such as a tonsillectomy or airway enlargement.
If your nose is bothering you, use a nasal spray. It helps to clear the nasal passages and airways to let you sleep more soundly. Avoid using this product for more than a few days because it may irritate the delicate tissues in your nose. Talk to a pharmacist to see which spray they recommend.
Stick to using just one normal sized pillow as you sleep. When you use multiple pillows or an over-sized pillow, it can interfere with your position as you breathe. Not only is this bad for your neck in general, it also restricts your airway. Use a single pillow for maximum relief from your sleep apnea.
Playing a wind instrument can help. Playing a wind instrument exercises your throat muscles to make breathing easier and gives you the pleasure of beautiful music at the same time. By playing a wind instrument you are strengthening these muscles, making it easier for you to manage them and lessening the severity of your sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea Sufferers
Please do not waste time believing that a CPAP maching is something to be ashamed of. Inform people you are using it so you don’t feel awkward when you need to bring it out when other people are around. You have to use your CPAP machine or else you might not get a solid night’s rest, so everyone you know should understand.
Sleep apnea should not be ignored; it needs to be treated. Various treatment regimens and choices are effective for certain individuals, but not necessarily all. Some sleep apnea sufferers can deal with their symptoms by getting rid of excess weight, but there are also people with the condition who aren’t overweight. Millions of sleep apnea sufferers find relief from non-surgical options like CPAP machines. Other people might just want to opt for surgery. However you go about it, get help and your quality of life will improve.
You may be unaware of your snoring or breathing problems that could be sleep apnea. If you find yourself falling asleep when you are driving, feel exhausted after a full night of sleep or feel strangely sleepy, talk to your doctor. Even if you don’t find yourself bolting breathlessly awake at night, you may have sleep apnea.
Pick up a wind instrument to play. This will not only be fun and relaxing, it will also help you excercise the muscles responsible for your breathing control. Training your breathing muscles regularly will make them stronger and they will help you control your symptoms of sleep apnea while you sleep.
Sometimes it is possible to treat sleep apnea using devices that attach to the mouth. Some individuals have jaws aligned or formed in ways that constrict their air passages. A sleep mouth guard can change the position of these things while you sleep to help lessen sleep apnea symptoms.
Cpap Machine
A majority of sleep apnea sufferers sleep on their backs. If you sleep on your back, you might rethink doing that. You can significantly reduce your sleep apnea symptoms by not sleeping on your back and falling asleep on your side.
Talk to your doctor before using a humidifier, mouth guard or nasal strips in conjunction with your CPAP sleep mask. It is much easier to get better sleep and to sleep with your CPAP machine if there is warm and humid air to breathe. If you think you may need to use a humidifier in conjunction with your CPAP machine, talk to your doctor first.
Sleep apnea can be exacerbated by exhaustion and sleep deprivation. Try to keep your sleep on a certain schedule to reduce this. Your behavior can have a huge effect on your sleep disorder. You will help reduce the likelihood that your sleep apnea worsens.
The manner in which you sleep can have a hand in your sleep apnea. This is the reason why it’s vital to sleep in a proper position each night. Take a foam wedge to lift the top of your body up. Or, if possible, elevate the top part of the bed around four inches.
Do not consume alcohol prior to bedtime. Sleep apnea and many other sleep disorders are worsened by consuming alcohol. It suppresses your nervous system and that can worsen the apnea, it also makes it difficult for you to wake up when you stop breathing. This is a potentially fatal combination.
In conclusion, there are many ways for coping with sleep apnea. Use the advice from above to start sleeping better. When your quality of sleep changes from negative to positive, everything else in your life will follow suit.
If the sleep apnea problem you are dealing with is due to excess tissue blocking your airways and throat, then surgery may be necessary to remedy this situation. The removal of excess tissue will widen your airways, making it easier for you to breath. This particular procedure usually removes your tonsils as well.