Sleep Apnea Treatment – What to do.

Do you sleep eight hours a night, yet wake up feeling unrested and drowsy? Do you ever wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, sometimes choking or gasping for air? Do you sometimes snore loudly?

Sleep Apnea Treatment Preventitives.

If any of this sounds like you, you might be having problems with sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is when breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep, usually for over 10 seconds and at least five times an hour.  Sleep Apnea disorder makes it difficult for the body to get restful sleep, since it is constantly distracted with trying to breathe. In addition to keeping you from REM cycles and deep sleep, sleep apnea can cause the person to wake up repeatedly in the night, making restful sleep even more difficult.

There are three different types of this sleep apnea disorder:

• Central Sleep Apnea: this happens when the brain doesn’t signal the muscles to tell them to breath.
• Obstructive Sleep Apnea: this happens when blockage occurs in the breathing pathways.
• Mixed Sleep Apnea: this is a mixture between the two other types.

There are many treatments for sleep apnea (some that work better than others), but the most common treatment is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure therapy, or CPAP. The therapy is made possible by a CPAP machine that connects a mask to the face and pushes air into the nose and mouth. The pressure of the air is high enough to clear obstructions or force the muscles to continue breathing, even when they stop. There are different degrees of pressure because there are different degrees of sleep apnea, so the amount of pressure depends on the severity of the disorder.

If you think you have sleep apnea, you should speak to a doctor. Continuous Positive Airway machines have to be prescribed by a licensed doctor, and you should see someone if you’re struggling with sleep apnea anyway to make sure you’re treating it in the best was possible.

CPAP is the most common sleep apnea treatment, but there are others:

• Change of lifestyle. When a case of sleep apnea is mild, sometimes it can go away if a person loses weight, avoids alcohol and sleeping pills, stops smoking, and changes sleeping positions to promote regular breathing. Sleeping on the back should be avoided.
• Dental Apnea Devices. Certain devices placed in the mouth can keep the airway open during sleep.
• Apnea Surgery. Sometimes surgery is needed to correct this disorder. Surgeries can reduce enlarged tonsils, fix an overbite that causes the throat to be narrow, or fix a deviated nasal septum.

In addition to these common treatments, there are also many alternative sleep apnea treatments, giving a patient many choices to choose from.

Symptoms of sleep apnea can be a very serious problem, but luckily, sufferers do not need to struggle with this problem any more. With so many sleep apnea treatment options to choose from, patients can get the help they need and “rest easy.”

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