Has snoring been disturbing your sleep for years? If you’re unaware that snoring can often be caused by sleep apnea, a potentially dangerous condition, it’s time to talk to your doctor about your snoring. You do not need to be overly anxious if this is the case. The following information is a great learning tool!
If you suffer from sleep apnea, you should use a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine while sleeping. This will help you treat your sleep apnea and get you on the path to having a full nights sleep. This machine uses either a face or nasal mask to pump air while you sleep.
One way to improve your sleep apnea is to shed excess weight that you are carrying. Being overweight or obese places pressure on your neck, which can compress your windpipe as you sleep. Losing just 25 pounds can make a difference in your symptoms, and losing enough weight can eliminate the disorder altogether.
Drink less alcohol and smoke less if you suffer from sleep apnea. Alcoholic beverages cause the upper airway to become overly relaxed, and smoking causes swelling in your airway. So, cutting back or completely giving up both can improve your symptoms or even cure your sleep apnea problem completely.
Try yourself to sleep on your side. If you fall asleep on your back, gravity can make it easier for your tongue and/or tonsils to fall back into your throat and obstruct your windpipe, causing apnea episodes. While it may be hard a first, as time passes, however, it will start to become second nature to sleep on your side.
For the sleep apnea patient using CPAP treatment, the wide range of options in machines and masks can seem overwhelming. The key to selecting the best equipment for your needs is to test out the various models yourself. Your Durable Medical Equipment (DME) provider should have a variety of masks and accessories available for you to try out. Don’t settle for the “standard” company mask. Insist on viewing several and being fitted properly. Comfort and good fit are key to successfully adjusting to CPAP treatment.
If you’re a sleep apnea sufferer undergoing CPAP treatment, don’t forget to take your machine along if you’re going to the hospital. While a hospital will have CPAP machines, you may be much more comfortable with a machine that already fits you well. It already has your pressure settings dialed in, and your mask is something your used to wearing at night. Even if you are hospitalized, you can seamlessly continue using your CPAP in this manner.
If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, it is essential that you stop smoking immediately. People who smoke are 3 times more likely to suffer from sleep apnea than non smokers or those who have quit smoking. There are many wonderful programs that can help you kick the habit.
If you are still smoking then you must stop – now. Smoking causes your air ways to enlarge, and it makes sleep apnea much worse. Try out nicotine patches or gum to get rid of your sleep apnea. The first month is pretty tough for most people, but it gets better. Beyond that, it becomes easier as your body detoxes from the nicotine.
The first thing you should do if you discover you have sleep apnea is take a long look at your weight. If you are overweight that can be increasing the problem. That means you need to take some time to learn about weight loss and exercise. Not only will your sleep improve, but your whole life will.
Smokers who also suffer from sleep apnea need to make a difficult decision. Research shows that smoking can worsen sleeping problems such as snoring and apnea, so those who like to light up need to really look into themselves and decide what is more important, nicotine or a great night’s sleep.
There are different kinds of CPAP machines: CPAP refers to the machines that provide you with a continuous airflow while APAP machines adapt the air pressure to your needs. There are also Bilevel machines that provide a higher pressure when you breathe in and a lower when you breathe out. Try different machines and talk to your doctor to find out what is best.
If your sleep apnea is caused by misalignment of your jaw, which results in the narrowing of your airway, you may benefit from visiting a doctor. A doctor can look at the alignment and suggest a night mouth guard that will force your airways to stay open while sleeping by holding your jaw in proper alignment.
If you think that sleep apnea is something you may have, it is best to consult with a doctor right away and get a sleep test. This sleep test will help diagnose your sleep apnea and give you an idea of its severity. After that, you will need to know how to treat the condition, even when suffering with a mild case.
There are several tools available to open up nasal passages that work to varying degrees. You should try several of these to see if any of them work well for you. The cheapest and easiest options are nasal strips, but neti pots are also becoming increasingly common for this type of problem.
Did you know that blowing up a balloon has another benefit besides making your child happy? This is actually a great exercise to strengthen the airways for those that suffer from sleep apnea. Repeating this balloon inflation five times in succession is recommended to get the most out of this exercise.
People get sleep apnea for many reasons, but thankfully there are almost as many solutions for it. What you read today is a great starting point, and it gave you a solid foundation of knowledge about this condition, so pass to anyone who is dealing with this problem. Before you know it, you will be sleeping like a baby.
