Get Your Sleep Apnea Under Control With These Tips

Get Your Sleep Apnea Under Control With These Tips

If you have experienced sleep apnea, you are aware of the deleterious effect it can have on health and well-being. It is very important that in order to lead a happy and healthy life, you are getting a good amount of quality sleep each night. Luckily, sleep apnea is treatable. This will help you with your sleep apnea. A mouth guard for use while you sleep can help you deal with sleep apnea, even if your airways are naturally narrow. This opens up your airways, letting you breathe fully while you sleep. Speak with your doctor concerning mouth guards, and have yourself fitted for one, provided your doctor agrees. Stop your destructive ways. Two of the most common offenders are drinking and smoking. Drinking suppresses your breathing and causes a lot of harm to your respiratory system. Smoking inserts carcinogens into the lungs, which eventually damages them. Getting rid of these bad habits can help to lessen the frustration that sleep apnea brings. Do you smoke and drink? Get rid of behaviors that are not good for you. Your airways are affected by using both of these substances. Alcohol use will lead to over-relaxation of your airways, making sleep apnea symptoms worse, while smoking can have a similar effect by constricting them. Avoid second-hand smoke and do not drink immediately before going to bed. Talk to your doctor about a CPAP device if your sleep apnea is severe. You should consider the size and volume of the device before you decide to get one. Some machines are very quiet and no bigger than a simple bread box. Your doctor will likely have a preferred brand or type of CPAP to recommend to you. To keep your sleep apnea in check, eat a healthy diet to lose weight. It's surprising how much an unhealthy diet can affect sleep apnea. People who do not eat well, or are overweight, may suffer from sleep apnea. If sleep apnea is an issue for you, and you are a smoker or drinker of alcohol, consider quitting to help with your symptoms. Both of these habits are bad for the muscles in your air passage and can worsen apnea. Cutting out these habits actually saves you money, unlike other costly alternatives like surgery. Do not consume as much alcohol as you used to. Alcohol relaxes your muscles in a way that harms your breathing. This might be something you want to do but it can also exacerbate your sleep apnea. Alcohol causes the throat and tongue muscles to relax, which can make it easier for them to block your airway. Reduce the frequency of your alcohol if you do continue to use it, and never drink close to bedtime. If you have been prescribed a CPAP for sleep apnea, make an honest effort to use it at least four hours a night. Some people find the machine difficult to get accustomed to. However, it won't be effective if you don't use it every day. You'll be comfortable using it on a regular basis in no time. Try to sleep on your sides to keep sleep apnea from ruining your sleep. By sleeping on your back, you'll notice that your throat and nasal passages may become obstructed. Make a point of falling to sleep on your side and see if that doesn't alleviate some of your sleep apnea symptoms tonight. To actually diagnose your disorder, a doctor may require you to take notes in a sleep log. In it, you'll record the number of hours you sleep, as well as any symptoms you have during the night. Ask others in your home to let you know if you snored, woke up without realizing it due to your snoring or if you moved a lot in your sleep. With this information, your doctors can make a final determination on whether or not you suffer from sleep apnea. A diagnosis of sleep apnea usually involves your personal and family medical histories, as well as a comprehensive physical examination. Your doctor may recommend a sleep study as well. When your doctor has this information, he passes it on to a specialist who can help you even more.

Sleep Apnea

When you suffer from sleep apnea, you should do your best to stick to the same sleep schedule each day. Sleep apnea causes regular interruptions in your ordinary nightly sleep cycle. 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 adjustment that is most important is your sleep schedule. Snoring devices may serve your needs with sleep apnea. Both snoring and sleep apnea are caused by narrowed airways. It makes sense to have a device that will help both. If you have mild sleep apnea, an anti-snoring device may be enough to help with your condition. Shed pounds if you want to get rid of your sleep apnea. There are a number of people who only need to lose a few pounds to entirely stop their sleep apnea episodes. Even losing a little weight can improve sleep apnea by opening the throat and airway, because there is less pressure on the neck. Weight loss can be a big help for those that suffer from sleep apnea. Sometimes, sleep apnea is due to the excess weight around the neck area. Pressure on the neck is reduced with weight loss, making breathing easier while sleeping. Choose only one, flatter pillow to sleep on each night instead of fluffy pillows. Your head position can be altered from the optimal sleeping position when you use oversized or multiple pillows. Not only is this bad for your neck in general, it also restricts your airway. With this in mind, use only a single pillow to minimize sleep apnea symptoms. One way to prevent yourself from getting sleep apnea is to exercise your throat muscles and make them stronger. Sleep apnea is caused by the obstruction of breathing that results from the collapse of the soft tissues in the back of the throat. Strong muscles are less likely to constrict airways. Eliminate all the risk factors you can. Certain risk factors that are associated with the condition cannot be controlled, such as being a man or having a family history of it. Be this as it may, smokers, drinkers and those who are overweight can reduce their risks. People that have sleep apnea can benefit from learning to play a wind instrument. It is soothing, and a German study showed that using these instruments can strengthen your throat muscles. This hobby will keep your airways under your control. A major factor of sleep apnea is how you sleep. Because of this, your sleeping position should be the best possible one. Put a foam wedge under yourself to lift up your body. An even better idea is to lift the top part of the bed by about four inches, if you can. Try taking a soothing bath before you go to bed to reduce anxiety. Taking a hot bath can relieve the tension in your muscles. This will help you sleep better and you will get more quality sleep instead of worrying about sleep apnea. Sleeping flat on your back may worsen sleep apnea, so try to sleep on your side. To prevent yourself from rolling onto your back while asleep, try sewing a lumpy object like a ball on your pajamas. This makes it far less likely for you to revert to a prone sleeping posture. Try not to sleep on your back if you have obstructive sleep apnea. When you sleep on your back, you can obstruct your air passages and complicate your sleep patterns. Do what you can to sleep while laying on your stomach or side at all times. You can use pillows behind your back to help keep you from moving onto your back to sleep. Most of the time sleep apnea causes anxiety, and if this is bothering you, then consider a nice warm bath before going to bed each night. A hot bath can help sooth your muscles to help you sleep better. This will help you sleep better and you will get more quality sleep instead of worrying about sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea begins in the throat, and exercising the throat muscles can help prevent apnea. Many exercises exist just for this purpose. Do not let your sleep apnea go untreated. If you leave your sleep apnea untreated, your symptoms are likely to worsen over time. Do not allow snoring and restless sleep to negatively impact your life. If you suspect you have sleep apnea, seek a physician's help immediately. Communicate with your doctor before and after you get a sleep apnea diagnosis. He can chart your progress and keep you abreast of the latest developments in sleep therapy. When trying out some new kind of treatment, it is best to seek the counsel of a doctor who can monitor the progress of your sleep apnea. As you can see, there are a lot of options for treating sleep apnea. Use what you've just learned to enhance your quality of sleep. Once you're able to get enough sleep, you'll have a better quality of life in a lot of ways. The problem of sleep apnea is made worse when you are chronically tired. Establishing a regular sleep schedule can ease sleep apnea's symptoms. Schedule a certain time of night for sleep, and set an alarm to wake up at the same time every morning. This will prevent the sleep apnea from escalating to anything worse like total insomnia.