Is it confusing to you that you can’t seem to get enough sleep every night? As you narrow down the potential sleep problems you may be facing, sleep apnea could emerge as the most likely disorder you’re suffering from. You don’t have any reason to worry; just read the advice in this article.
A mouth guard for use while you sleep can help you deal with sleep apnea, even if your airways are naturally narrow. Through the use of a mouth guard, airways will be kept open. Ask your doctor about sleep mouth guards, and get fitted for one if you believe this could be the right solution for you.
Drop some of your vices to fight against sleep apnea. Drinking and smoking are the biggest offenders. Drinking relaxes your airway to prevent proper breathing. Smoking adds harmful chemicals which damage your lungs over time. Doing away with both of these bad habits will help do away with your sleep apnea symptoms.
To help with your sleep apnea, you need to consult with your doctor about the best CPAP machine to use. You should consider the size and volume of the device before you decide to get one. There are some very small and quiet machines available. The doctor would be able to guide you to the right one to use.
If you have sleep apnea, yet you drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes, quitting could alleviate your symptoms. Alcohol relaxes the muscles in the back of the throat, which will cause an interference with breathing. Some people resort to invasive surgeries to correct their sleep apnea without realizing that discontinuing these bad habits could have been a more simple and much cheaper route!
A diagnosis of sleep apnea usually involves your personal and family medical histories, as well as a comprehensive physical examination. Also, there may be a sleep study performed and even a sleep specialist recommended if the doctor treating you feels that your condition is severe enough to get it looked at further.
You may have success in treating your sleep apnea with a doctor-prescribed fitted mouth guard. It may just be that your breathing passage is naturally narrow or your jaw is small. You will get better rest if you use specialty devices to position yourself and align your jaw properly while sleeping.
When you suffer from sleep apnea, you should do your best to stick to the same sleep schedule each day. Sleep apnea causes regular interruptions in your ordinary nightly sleep cycle. Anything you can do to restore a natural sleep pattern will assist you in regaining your health and avoiding daytime sleepiness. Go to sleep and wake up at set times each day, even the weekends, for the best results.
Try out different things besides pills to help you sleep. In the same way that alcohol does, sleeping pills over-relax throat muscles. They also can cause other harmful issues to make your sleep apnea worse. Stress relief through meditation or exercise can also help you fall asleep safely.
You need to make sure you have a medical ID on you if you use a CPAP and have sleep apnea. Upon need for help and medical attention, your condition must be known. Your ID should clearly inform medical personnel of your sleep apnea condition. Include the fact that you’re using a CPAP machine and indicate the proper pressure level it operates at.
If you sleep alone, figuring out if you suffer from sleep apnea may be difficult. Think about recording your sleep patterns. Remember to make a video with sound so your doctor can hear you snore!
Alway travel with your CPAP machine if you suffer from the symptoms of sleep apnea. If you have a sleep apnea diagnosis, you must use your CPAP every single night. The original packaging should have included a convenient carrying case for travel. You can transport your CPAP machine with you away from home.
If your sleep apnea doesn’t improve after anything you’ve tried, you may need to discuss more drastic options with your doctor. Some people have poor luck with typical sleep apnea treatments, and resort to a surgical treatment that entails the removal of the adenoids and tonsils, or the enlargement of the airway.
Try using a nasal spray for an irritated nose. You can experience a few nights of untroubled sleep using such a product. Don’t use it over a long duration because it can cause problems. Talk to a pharmacist to see which spray they recommend.
Exercise your tongue and minimize sleep apnea symptoms. One exercise includes pressing your tongue on the roof of the mouth and keeping it for several minutes. You will make your muscles stronger, and you will have better results with your other treatments.
You can lessen the sleep apnea symptoms you are experiencing. Be aware that certain risk factors, like gender and genes, cannot be changed. However, things like quitting smoking and drinking are within your control, and there’s no excuse for continuing these detrimental behaviors.
Strengthening the muscles of your throat can be an effective way to reduce the risk of sleep apnea. When the muscles at the back of your throat collapse, your breathing can be reduced. The stronger your muscles are the less chance they will block your airways.
Many people can reduce the severity of their sleep apnea symptoms by losing excess weight. Sleep apnea is correlated with being fat and having a large neck. Losing weight can reduce pressure on the airways and cause better airflow when breathing at night.
Try to sleep on your side instead of your back to relieve sleep apnea. To prevent yourself from rolling onto your back while asleep, try sewing a lumpy object like a ball on your pajamas. This forces you to lay on your side since it makes it tough to lay on your back.
How you sleep can determine how many sleep apnea occurrences you have. You need to find the right position. Try taking a foam wedge and using it to raise the top half of your body. Or, if possible, elevate the top part of the bed around four inches.
When you have sleep apnea, the obstruction occurs in your throat and not in your nasal passages. Therefore, strengthening your throat muscles can help to reduce your apnea episodes. If you are interested in learning more about how to strengthen your throat, there are dozens of quick exercises that can be done.
People who suffer from sleep apnea, or even snoring, should consider learning to play an instrument. A study shows this can greatly reduce the symptoms of sleep apnea. Taking up this new endeavor will help you get a handle on controlling your airways.
The problem of sleep apnea is made worse when you are chronically tired. One way to mitigate this effect is to sleep on a regular schedule. Going to bed and getting up at the same time each day is important. This can keep your sleep apnea condition from evolving into something even worse, such as complete insomnia.
If you suspect that you might have sleep apnea, see your doctor and get a referral for a sleep study. This can determine the cause of your sleep problems, and if it is sleep apnea, you will learn how severely you suffer with the condition. Less severe cases of sleep apnea can be relatively easy to treat.
There is a surgery that can help to alleviate the snoring associated with sleep apnea. A method called UPPP is used to remove the tissue and enlarge the airway. Along with other throat tissue, you will have the added bonus of having your tonsils removed!
Many people who have sleep apnea sleep on their back. If this is you, then you should try finding another position to sleep in. Sleeping on your sides helps keep your airways straight, which reduces apnea during sleep.
Many people who suffer from sleep apnea can benefit from using a mouth guard when sleeping. There are mouth guards you can use to help you when you sleep. You may have a jaw that contributes to sleep apnea as well. This may simply be genetic.
If you have sleep apnea, it is important for you to do all you can to improve the quality of your sleep. Be sure to get on a sleep schedule to combat this. Always go to bed and wake up at the same times each day. This will help you combat sleep apnea before it gets worse.
Follow the instructions and routines of your prescribed treatments. You might be tempted to not use your CPAP some nights, but the effect will be apparent the next day when you are not as productive as normal. Follow your doctor’s advice if you want function like everyone else in your daily life.
Make sure you don’t drink any alcohol before bed. Alcohol relaxes the muscles in your throat making sleep apnea’s symptoms more severe. That doesn’t mean that you can never drink again, but rather that you should not drink to excess, especially before bed.
Think about getting a guard for your mouth. Your dentist can make a personally fitted mouth guard to compensate for overbite or another jaw abnormality. Mouth guards fix your jaw alignment and this means easier night breathing.
Play a woodwind instrument. The clarinet and flute are great instruments for treating sleep apnea. While helping your control airflow, these instrument provide exercise for the muscles surround your airway and make them stronger. Eventually, your muscles will strengthen, and your sleep apnea will lessen.
Exercises designed to strengthen the throat muscle are available to help with your sleep apnea. Your airway will be more likely to stay open the stronger your throat muscles are. You can make soft noises, put your tongue in and out of your mouth, make faces, or even take up a wind instrument. These small activities help strengthen your throat muscles, leading to a better night of sleep.
Cut down or avoid alcohol completely, especially right before going to sleep. A wide range of sleep disorders are compounded negatively by the use or consumption of alcohol, and sleep apnea is among them. In addition to weakening the nervous system, it can also make the sleep apnea worse. This can make it harder to wake up if you happen to stop breathing. This combines for something that could prove to be fatal.
Don’t take drugs, such as morphine, that contain opioids. These extremely powerful drugs cause extreme muscle relaxation and can significantly reduce the amount of oxygen that users take in while sleeping. In combination with sleep apnea, it can be fatal.
If you have sleep apnea because of the excess tissue within your airway, you may need surgery. A surgeon then goes in and removes some of the tissue, which helps clear the airway, making breathing easier at night. Also know that during this procedure they will most likely remove your tonsils.
Sleep apnea should be taken seriously. Yur doctor may prescribe a CPAP machine. Untreated sleep apnea leaves you chronically sleep deprived. This affects your overall health adversely, making you more prone to developing heart disease, having a stroke, or becoming clinically depressed.
Practice toning the muscles of your throat if you are afflicted with sleep apnea. Try to increase the strength of your throat muscles so that they don’t collapse during your sleep. Learning a wind instrument is known to work, and you can also make faces, stick your tongue out often and hum a lot. Each of these will help you keep your throat muscles firm.
If you don’t get a full night of sleep, take a nap during the day. Taking a nap can help you grab the extra minutes of sleep you missed during the night and will help to revive you. You should talk to your employer about this, and explain that taking a short nap will help you be more productive.
If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, then you need to handle the news with the appropriate severity. Make sure that you adhere to any physician instructions to the letter, and your possible CPAP machine prescription is not an exception. Untreated sleep apnea leaves you chronically sleep deprived. This affects your overall health adversely, making you more prone to developing heart disease, having a stroke, or becoming clinically depressed.
We hope this article has helped you in preparing to deal effectively with your sleep apnea. You should now feel much better about tomorrow’s sleep by following the tips you’ve just read. Keep in mind that it is, as with many other conditions, a process of evaluating different treatments for results. Keep searching for ways to help yourself and soon you will see a big improvement.
