Sleep Apnea- Treating It In A Right Manner

A sleeping disorder that occurs due to interruption in person’s breathing during sleep is termed as Sleep Apnea. People suffering from this disorder stops breathing many times during their sleep. Thus, brain as well as rest of the day might not get enough oxygen which might lead to further problems. This why it is very necessary to treat sleep apnea on time. Listed below are the methods for treating sleep apnea.

Treatment for Sleep Apnea

• Change Lifestyle

Whenever you will visit the doctor with this problem, the first thing he or she will ask you to do is to change your lifestyle.

Weight Loss: He will ask you to reduce your weight if you are overweight. A nutritional counsellor may help you in the treatment.

Reduce the Use of Alcohol as well as Medicine: If you have a habit of consuming sleeping pills or alcohol before sleep then you must definitely reduce the consumption or completely avoid it. This is simply because excessive consumption of these substances worsens the symptoms.

Get Enough Sleep: It is very important to get appropriate amount of sleep because apnea episodes are likely to be more frequent when you do not get enough sleep.

Avoid Smoking: Nicotine and tobacco collapses those muscles that are responsible for keeping your airways open. So, if you are suffering from sleep apnea then you should say no to smoking. Smoking is anyways bad for your health so you should avoid it completely.

• Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or CPAP: CPAP is a machine that brings air pressure through a mask that is placed over nose while you are sleeping. With this machine, the air pressure is a little more than that in the surroundings and it is great enough to keep your upper airway passage open thereby preventing apnea as well as snoring. Although continuous positive airway pressure is a very reliable treatment for sleep apnea, still many people find it very uncomfortable because of the mask. However, by adjusting the straps of mask or by choosing a different type of mask, one can find it comfortable.

• Expiratory Positive Airway Pressure or EPAP: It is a small single-use device that is placed over each of your nostrils before you to sleep. There is a valve present in the device that allows air to flow freely inside but as you exhale the air is supposed to go through small holes present in valves. Because of this, the pressure in the airway increases which helps in keeping them open. It is a great option for those who cannot tolerate CPAP.

• Oral Appliances: Oral appliances can also be used in order to keep your throat open. It is not as reliable and as effective as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). However, it is very easy to use.

A number of different devices are available with your dentist. You might have to try several devices before you can find one that works perfectly well for you in treating sleep apnea.