Suffer From Sleep Apnea? These Tips Can Help!

Suffer From Sleep Apnea? These Tips Can Help!

Some people assume their lack of sleep for extended periods of time is a normal occurrence. Fortunately, this isn't true. Many individuals suffer from sleep apnea, and it is a condition that everyone should understand. If you have narrow air passages, consider a mouth guard. These can help you breathe better and clear your airways. Talk to your physician about these, and get a fitting if you two think it might work. Do you regularly smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol? Quit these terrible habits. Both of these things affect your airway negatively and compound your sleep apnea problem. When you smoke you can harm your lungs, and it can be hard for you to breathe at night. Alcohol has a similarly negative effect. Avoid second-hand smoke and do not drink immediately before going to bed. Do you drink and smoke? Eliminate bad habits. These items can harm your airways. Alcohol can relax airways while smoking can cause them to swell, both of which can cause you to have sleep apnea. Avoid second-hand smoke and do not drink immediately before going to bed. If you're having a problem with sleep apnea and are a smoker or a drinker, you may find that quitting can help you immensely. Alcohol relaxes the tongue and throat muscles, which can cause them to block your airway; smoking inflames the airway, causing it to narrow. Both of these habits can cause snoring and apnea. Remember that surgery and medications are expensive. Correcting bad habits is free. Follow your treatment plan including wearing your sleep mask. Using a CPAP while sleeping is a tough adjustment for many patients to make. If you want your treatment to work, it is essential to use your CPAP for at least 4 hours every night. If you have a tough time with it, be sure you have the right size mask, and that the pressure is working right.

Upper Airway Muscles

Sleep apnea is very serious. If you notice some of the warning signs, you need to talk to your doctor as soon as possible. In the process of fully diagnosing your condition, you may be able to consult with a sleep specialist. Home sleep tests with portable monitors are also often used to pinpoint sleep apnea. Some people believe that you can strengthen you upper airway muscles by playing a musical instrument belonging to the woodwind family. German researchers suggest playing the didgeridoo regularly trains your upper airway muscles. The upper air passage muscles control the size of your airway. Therefore, you should regularly play these instruments due to the fact that they decrease your sleep apnea symptoms. You may be able to address your sleep apnea by simply changing from back sleeping to side sleeping. When we sleep on our backs, the nasal and throat passages are more prone to obstructing the air-ways. Be sure you try sleeping on your side to get rid of a few of your problems caused by sleep apnea at night. You can both shed unwanted pounds and reduce the effects of sleep apnea with a nutritious and healthy diet. Not everyone equates bad and good food with sleep apnea, but many people have found out that it does play a role. Research indicates that less nutritious food may exacerbate sleep apnea. When dealing with sleep apnea it is best to keep a regular sleeping schedule. Apnea disrupts your sleep patterns already. Getting treatment from a doctor is just one part of the solution. Making sure that you don't disrupt your sleep on your own with a lax sleeping schedule is another part of the solution. The best thing you can do is to be sure you're going to sleep and getting up every day during the same time. It's best to lay on your side to sleep when you have sleep apnea. A lot of people that suffer from sleep apnea lay down in bed at night on their backs. If you sleep on your back, you are more likely to have your mouth open and block your airways. It's easier to breathe when looking to the side. If your sleep tends to see you rolling onto your back, support yourself with pillows on one side or the other. Use a chin strap with your CPAP each night to prevent your mouth from opening as you sleep. Invest a little money into a CPAP machine to assist you during sleep. If your mouth falls open when you sleep, your CPAP therapy won't be effective. Use this device to try and solve the problem.

Sleep Apnea

If you are not experiencing success at overcoming your sleep apnea, you may want to take more serious measures. Conventional treatments may not work for you, and other options do exist, including surgery that results in enlargement of the air passage. If you use a CPAP machine and have sleep apnea, make certain to always have medical ID on your person. If you are ever in need of emergency treatments, this ID will let the medical team know that you suffer from sleep apnea and are following CPAP therapy. This identification card should tell caregivers that you suffer from sleep apnea, and that you make use of a CPAP set to a specified pressure level to sleep. If you have a stuffy nose, use a saline spray or neti pot. It helps to clear the nasal passages and airways to let you sleep more soundly. Avoid using nasal sprays over a long period of time; your mucus membranes could become damaged and irritated. Head to your pharmacy to see what your options are to deal with your nose bothering you in your sleep. Lose weight to prevent developing sleep apnea. Many sufferers of sleep apnea have found that shedding their unwanted pounds makes their sleep apnea go away entirely. Even losing a little weight can improve sleep apnea by opening the throat and airway, because there is less pressure on the neck. Consider a snoring device. Excessive snoring occurs whenever your airways are only partially opened where a minimum amount of air can pass through. On the other hand, sleep apnea occurs whenever your airways are closed up completely with no passing through. So, anything that helps relieve the first issue will also help with the second. Use an anti-snoring device when you sleep.

Sleep Apnea

You can reduce the risk factors for sleep apnea. While some people suffer from sleep apnea due to genetic factors, others have it because of their lifestyle. Some other risk factors should be changed, such as drinking too much, smoking or weighing too much. Try using devices that help with snoring. Snoring occurs if breathing passages become partially closed, and sleep apnea when they are closed entirely. It makes sense to have a device that will help both. Devices such as mouth guards can reduce snoring as well as sleep apnea episodes. You can do tongue exercises to help minimize sleep apnea symptoms. For three minutes, press your tongue up to the roof of your mouth. This will help strengthen weak tongue and throat muscles so that they don't slip back and block your airway while you sleep so easily. With the information you've gained here, you can better deal with your condition. Don't let someone make you think that being tired all the time is perfectly normal or that this article shouldn't be discussed with a doctor. Do not let your condition, treatment or even your CPAP machine embarrass you. Inform people you are using it so you don't feel awkward when you need to bring it out when other people are around. If the people around you give you trouble regarding the use of your machine, you may need a better group of friends.