Sleep apnea causes repeated interruptions in your sleep, keeping you from getting enough rest. Untreated it can raise your risk for serious health conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
Treatments range from lifestyle changes to a mouthpiece to surgery. Work closely with your doctor to get the best results.
Treatments
When left untreated, sleep apnea Raleigh NC can raise your risk for certain health conditions and can leave you drowsy throughout the day, increasing your risk of accidents in your car or at work. It can also make it hard to concentrate, which can affect school and work performance.
Several treatments are available, including lifestyle changes, oral devices and surgery. A sleep specialist determines the best treatment based on your symptoms and health history.
Lifestyle changes include avoiding alcohol, smoking and sleeping on the side instead of on the back. Weight loss, limiting caffeine and avoiding medications that relax the muscles can also help. Surgery can correct structural problems such as enlarged tonsils or a narrow nasal passage. Oral appliances (like mouth guards) can keep the airway open by supporting and positioning the tongue and jaw. Penn maxillofacial specialists can help fit you for these devices, which are known as mandibular repositioning devices or tongue-retaining appliances. There are also a variety of medications that can be used to treat central sleep apnea.
Lifestyle changes
If you are struggling with sleep apnea, lifestyle changes can help you manage your symptoms. These can include maintaining a healthy weight, sleeping on your side rather than back, and avoiding certain foods that can cause congestion.
Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when your airway becomes narrow or blocked during sleep, causing you to struggle with breathing. This can be caused by obesity, large tonsils, a thick throat, or changes in your hormone levels. It may also be caused by other health conditions that affect how your brain controls your airway and chest muscles. Loud snoring is a common sign of obstructive sleep apnea but not everyone who snores has this condition.
People who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea often feel tired even after getting a good night’s rest. They may have trouble concentrating and become irritable. Some people with this condition also experience heart disease and depression. Other symptoms include a feeling of choking or gasping when breathing restarts, and insomnia.
Medications
Obstructive sleep apnea, caused by the collapse of throat tissues, results in snoring and episodes of paused breathing with interrupted awakenings during sleep. It deprives your brain and body of oxygen, which can put you at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and depression.
Treatments include lifestyle changes, oral and dental appliances, mandibular advancement devices and surgical treatment. Medications can also help — a new study suggests that a drug called reboxetine, formerly used to treat depression, has promise in alleviating obstructive sleep apnea.
For central sleep apnea Raleigh NC, you may try medications to improve breathing, such as acetazolamide or theophylline, or undergo surgery for associated medical problems such as enlarged tonsils and adenoids. You may also lose weight, quit smoking and take medication that treats depression or anxiety if those are present. Adding supplemental oxygen while sleeping might help with central sleep apnea. Research is ongoing for a new type of nerve stimulation that might relieve central sleep apnea as well.
Surgery
People with sleep apnea can develop serious long-term health problems and experience low quality of life. In some cases, surgery may be an option to treat obstructive sleep apnea. It’s usually only recommended after more conservative treatments like CPAP machines or weight loss have been unsuccessful.
One of the most common surgeries for sleep apnea is called uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, or UPPP. It removes tissue from the back of your mouth, throat and nasal passages to widen the area where air passes through. This reduces the amount of tissue that collapses during sleep, which improves airflow and decreases apnea episodes. It also reduces snoring.
Other surgeries for sleep apnea include removal of your tonsils and adenoids (tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy), which can reduce snoring and improve breathing. Another surgery is a tracheostomy, which creates a new airway in your throat by cutting an opening into your neck. It’s only used to treat severe, uncontrollable obstructive sleep apnea Raleigh NC. If you have this type of surgery, your doctor will likely give you medication to prevent blood clots, which can cause a heart attack.
