Anyone who suffers from sleep apnea knows the difficulties it can cause. Combating sleep apnea is possible once you have the right information. Use this article to find out how you can cure your sleep apnea.
If a person is severely overweight, they are much more likely to develop sleep apnea. If this is a problem for a person, then weight loss is recommended. Make sure that you stick with a plan that makes sense and combine a low calorie diet with an exercise regimen. Reducing carbohydrate intake can be an effective way to take off the pounds, according to some recent studies.
If you have narrow air passages, consider a mouth guard. Using these guards encourages proper jaw alignment and helps keep the breathing passages fully open while you sleep. If this sounds like a solution worth pursuing, discuss the matter with your doctor and schedule a fitting for a guard of your own.
To help you deal with sleep apnea ask your doctor about how you can deal with it. You should take the size and potential to make noise into consideration. Some machines are very quiet and no bigger than a simple bread box. Your doctor can recommend which machines his patients have had the most success with.
Do you smoke or drink alcoholic beverages? Quit these terrible habits. Smoking irritates your air passages, making them narrow. Alcohol use will lead to over-relaxation of your airways, making sleep apnea symptoms worse, while smoking can have a similar effect by constricting them. If it’s too challenging to give up these habits entirely, you should at least avoid indulging in them as you approach your bedtime.
Even children can suffer from sleep apnea. If you find your child is innatentive, always tired or uses their mouth to breath and not their nose, they may suffer from this condition. Sometimes parents mistakenly think these symptoms have to do with something like ADHD, and it is best that you talk to your child’s doctor to find the true culprit.
Sleep Apnea
Try to sleep on your side at night. When you sleep on your back, the airways get obstructed due to the throat and nasal passages being more prone to obstruction. Try sleeping on your side at night and determine if that helps you breathe a bit easier.
Your phsyician can help you get a mouth piece to help with your sleep apnea. You might have a narrow breathing passage, recessed chin, or small jaw naturally that can worsen sleep apnea. Corrective devices can improve your jaw alignment at night and increase your rest quality.
Look for alternatives to sleeping pills. Sleeping pills are similar to alcohol in that they cause the muscles in your throat to be less tense. They may also have other negative effects as well. If you have chronic insomnia, consult with your doctor about safe alternatives to sleeping pills.
A healthy diet can help you lose weight and combat sleep apnea. Changing from a poor diet to a healthy one can transform your sleep apnea symptoms. Someone who is overweight but still eats a healthy diet will have fewer symptoms of apnea than someone who eats an unhealthy diet but weighs less.
If you sleep alone, it may be hard for you to get a good idea of the exact nature of your sleep apnea symptoms. You can remedy this problem by setting up a recorder that can film you while you’re sleeping at night. The video should also have audio to listen for any noises.
Sleep apnea is usually diagnosed by a doctor after he looks at your family history, medical history, and you have a comprehensive physical exam. 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.
Make sure you don’t take any sleeping pills after you find out you suffer from sleep apnea. You may find these pills are causing your muscles in your throat to relax and this obstructs your airways. Sleep medicines can cause more problems and can even be dangerous for people with apnea.
Many doctors ask patients to keep sleep logs to help diagnose sleep apnea. Here, you will track your hours of successful sleep, when you awaken through the night and other problems you may encounter. Your partner can often say if you jerk limbs around, stop breathing for a second, or snore loudly. This diary will help a medical professional see patterns in your sleep habits.
Should you suffer from sleep apnea, keep a regular sleep schedule. Apnea disrupts your sleep patterns already. A routine sleep pattern will discourage the condition from getting worse. So try and get into bed around the same times every night.
Sleeping Schedule
You can wear a chin strap with your CPAP if you have problems with your mouth falling open as you sleep. It is only a small fabric strap that keeps your chin in place so you can sleep with a closed mouth. CPAP therapy will not work if your mouth is open, so try this simple device to see if it fixes the problem.
People who have sleep apnea should establish a sleeping schedule. Apnea disrupts your sleep patterns already. Any steps you take towards a regular sleeping schedule will help you get a better night’s sleep. The first change you should make is setting a specific time to go to sleep and wake up each day.
Reduce your sleep apnea risk factors. Sleep apnea can run in the family, and that is one factor that can’t be changed. But, there are other things you can do to cut out risks such as not smoking or drinking heavily, and also managing your weight.
Use a chin strap with your CPAP each night to prevent your mouth from opening as you sleep. A chin strap is a strap on fabric that can hold your mouth closed. CPAP therapy will not work if your mouth is open, so try this simple device to see if it fixes the problem.
A CPAP machine can assist you in sleeping if you do have sleep apnea. If the air you are taking in is moist and warm, you will have a better night’s sleep. Many CPAP machines come with built-in humidifiers now, so see if your doctor can prescribe one of those for you.
Do you travel? If so, then your CPAP should be carried along with you. When sleep apnea affects you, do not attempt even a single night without your CPAP machine. Your machine probably came with a convenient carrying bag. This bag will help you safely travel with your CPAP machine when you are on vacation.
Your sleep position determines a lot in terms of your bouts of sleep apnea. Try sleeping on your side or your stomach to decrease the condition. Elevate your body by placing a foam wedge under it. You could also try raising your head up about four inches.
Try a device marketed to help with snoring. Snoring occurs when airways are mostly closed up with a little air getting through, but sleep apnea occurs when the airways completely close up. A device that can help with snoring may also work to help with apnea. Use an anti-snoring device when you sleep.
It is possible to use a mouth guard to treat some of the symptoms of sleep apnea. Some people have jaws that are too small or oddly shaped which makes it hard for air to flow freely. You can use a mouthpiece in this instance; you will get better airflow this way
Making the muscles in your throat much stronger is an excellent way to help the alleviate the sleep apnea. Sleep apnea results from breathing obstruction due to your soft tissues in your throat collapsing. When your muscles strengthen, their chances of collapse and airway blockage go down.
Sleep apnea can be worsened if you are tired for long periods of time. To deal with this problem make sure that you have a set sleeping schedule. Try to go to bed and get up at the same time each day. That is going to stop apnea from getting worse, such as having total insomnia.
Try not to sleep on your back if you have sleep apnea. Your apnea will worsen if you sleep on your back because your airways are more likely to collapse in that position. Try side sleeping. If it does not seem natural to you, prop yourself using pillows.
Minimize alcohol use, particularly before bedtime. Alcohol can make a sleep disorder much worse than it already is. It slows down you central nervous system, making the conditions of sleep apnea worse and also could prevent you from waking up should you stop breathing. This can be a fatal combination.
Don’t sleep face-up if you suffer from sleep apnea. Back sleeping could result in a collapsed airway, causing your symptoms. Your best option if you have sleep apnea is to sleep on your side; gravity then won’t work so much against you.
Do what you can to strengthen you throat muscles, when you can. It is best to do whatever might be necessary to increase the stregth of your throat muscles. A few humming exercises and playing with wind instruments can help you increase throat strength. All the above may help strengthen your throat muscles.
Wind Instrument
Talk to your partner about their feelings regarding your apnea. It should not be surprising to find that your snoring has interrupted their sleep regularly. Encourage them to express their feelings about the situation, and reassure them that it will get better now that you have started treatment for your sleep apnea.
Try playing any sort of wind instrument. Your apnea symptoms may improve if you start playing the clarinet, the flute or some other wind instrument. By practicing the breath control necessary to play a wind instrument, you tone and strengthen your throat muscles and thus improve your sleep apnea symptoms. After some time, your muscles will start to improve and your condition will start to get better.
If you have been advised by your physician that you have sleep apnea, then it is important that you follow all prescribed forms of treatment. This condition can leave you drowsy and unable to sleep, which can lead to more problems.
Do not consume alcohol prior to bedtime. Sleep apnea is just one of the sleeping disorders made worse by alcohol. Worse, it hits your central nervous system, making it harder to rouse if you really stop breathing. You could have a bad time sleeping by doing this.
Don’t allow any breathing problems grow out of hand. If you are dealing with sleep apnea, it’s crucial that you immediately treat any breathing problems you may have. If your allergies start flaring up, take your medicine quickly. Also seal shut windows and doors and curtail your exposure to the outdoors. Treat colds so they don’t affect your sleep apnea.
If you find that your sleep apnea condition is due to too much tissue in your airway and throat, you may need to undergo surgery. A surgeon will use a procedure called UPPP (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty) to rid your airway of the excess tissue, thus, enlarging your airway and curing you of your sleep apnea. Even this simple surgery has some risks so ensure that you are aware of all potential outcomes.
Those with a sleep apnea diagnosis would do well to wear a mouth guard. The mouth guard is designed to keep the jaw aligned and promote proper breathing. Particularly if you have an overbite, this may be a good option for you.
You may benefit from a specially fitted mouth guard. If you have a small jaw or an overbite, then get your dentist to give you a custom-made mouth guard. A jaw that is correctly aligned makes it easier for your body to breathe properly at night.
You need to keep pursuing treatment options, even if you don’t feel like going to doctor’s appointments are evaluating CPAP machines. If you are too tired to drive yourself to the doctor, have a friend or relative drive you there.
If you have sleep apnea you know that it can be hard to deal with. Fortunately, this is not a problem without solutions. With a little investment of time and effort, the effects of sleep apnea can be managed and minimized. Take the information you learned today and come up with a plan to help you get that good night’s rest you’ve been seeking for a long time.
Consider purchasing a mist humidifier to use with your CPAP. A humidifier can help with the dryness you feel from the air being forced through your airway all night. Just fill it up with water, and you’ll benefit from increased comfort when you are wearing your mask. You will be more likely to wear the mask and sleep better.