Do you still wake up feeling unrested and drowsy even you sleep eight hours a night? Do you ever wake up suddenly in the middle of the night, sometimes choking or gasping for air? Is there a time that you snore loudly? If any of this sounds like you, you might be having problems with sleep apnea. Breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep, usually for over 10 seconds and at least five times an hour. The word “apnea” comes from the Greek word which means “want of breath.” It is tough 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, causing a person to wake up repeatedly in the night, making restful sleep more difficult.
This disorder has three different types:
1. Sleep Apnea Disorder: this happens when the brain doesn’t signal the muscles to tell them to breath.
2. Obstructive Sleep Apnea: this happens when blockage occurs in the breathing pathways.
3. Mixed 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 air pressure s high enough to clear obstructions or force the muscles to continue breathing, even when they stop. The different degrees of sleep apnea depend on the different degrees of pressure, 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 Pressure machines have to be prescribed by a licensed doctor and you should talk to him or her to make sure you’re treating it in the best.
CPAP is the most common treatment to sleep apnea, but there are others:
1. Change of lifestyle. With a mild case, 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. Avoid sleeping on the back.
2. Dental Devices. Certain devices placed in the mouth can keep the airway open during sleep.
3. 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.
There are also many alternative to treat sleep apnea, giving a patient many choices to choose from. Sufferers do not need to struggle with this problem any more because patients can get the help they need and “rest easy.”