How To Stop Snoring

When breathing of a person during sleep is reduced or stops, this condition could be diagnosed as sleep apnea.Routine visits to the doctor, however, are usually not enough to detect sleep apnea and this disorder often goes undiagnosed. Because the condition manifests only while sleeping, most patients would not be able to tell first-hand if they have symptoms of sleep apnea. This condition could only be noticed if a patient’s family member or bed partner calls attention to the problem.

A diagnosis of this condition would reveal either of three types of apnea. These apnea types include central apnea, obstructive apnea, and a combination of the two.

Central apnea occurs when the brain of a person asleep fails to activate the muscles for breathing. On the other hand, if the sleeper’s airway collapses, there is obstructive apnea. Occurring most often in overweight persons, this is the most common type of apnea. There are several complications of obstructive apnea. Such possibilities that could occur are high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, sleepiness during the day resulting in concentration and thinking difficulties that may lead to accidents while driving. To diagnose and evaluate obstructive sleep apnea, a patient will undergo physical examination and polysomnography. If you think you might be suffering from sleep apnea you should see a doctor for sleep apnea.

It is very important for a person with obstructive sleep apnea to undergo treatment. The temptation is great for a person with this problem to just ignore the disorder. Treatment could be inconvenient as it may entail wearing masks and dental appliances every night. Using a dental appliance for sleep apnea is uncomfortable at first but you can get used to it. A sleep apnea chin strap is slightly less uncomfortable, but is very unattractive. There’s surgery, but it’s painful and there is no guarantee for successful treatment.Due to these inconveniences, painful treatment and uncertain results, only an estimated 10% of obstructive sleep apnea patients undergo treatment.

It is therefore important to educate the rest of the 90% of those patients of the consequences of non-treatment of their disorder.r Putting themselves at risk is bad enough and what is worse is that they pose a risk to others when they are driving. Serious risks face the patient for non-treatment of the problem, including higher possibility of stroke, hypertension, heart attack, work productivity reduction, lowered attentiveness and at its extreme death.

Persons with obstructive sleep apnea should discuss treatment with their doctor right away. Other than surgery, wearing mask and dental appliances, there are more palatable treatments of patients. An apnea patient may have the choice to undergo behavioral theraphy, or treatments involving airway pressure.

Changing a patient’s lifestyle could also help treat sleep apnea. These include refraining from taking alcoholic drinks or muscle relaxants, weight reduction and stopping smoking. Having the body at a 30-degree elevation while sleeping to prevent airway collapse due to gravity could also help in apnea treatment. The reduction in the gravitational cause of sleep apnea could also be achieved by sleeping on a sideways position.

There are several surgical procedures for those patients who elect surgery. These involve palate implants, nasal surgery, tongue reduction surgery, genioglossus advancement, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, bariatric surgery, tracheostomy, and maxi-mandibular advancement.