Millions of people around the world have trouble sleeping at night due to various sleep disorders. One of the most common is sleep apnea. This condition causes you to stop breathing during your sleep, causing snoring and excessive fatigue, as well as more dangerous side effects. This article can tell you what you should know about this condition.
Try playing a wind instrument. Playing the trumpet or a similar musical instrument should help you strengthen your throat and help you control your breathing. Your upper airways should become stronger and remain open throughout the night, which would make the symptoms of sleep apnea disappear or at least reduce them.
If you want real assistance with sleep apnea at night, talk to a physician about the optimal CPAP machine for you. You should take the size and potential to make noise into consideration. Some of these machines are really small and barely make any sounds at all. Your physician will be able to guide you to good CPAP manufacturers.
For people who suffer from sleep apnea, they may stop using their CPAP machine because it is noisy or too large. See if you can get an upgrade. The machines have gotten much smaller and quieter in recent years. You may be eligible for an upgrade. Contact your doctor or insurance provider for more information.
There are known risk factors for sleep apnea. Some of obstructive sleep apnea risk factors are being overweight, a smoker, male, related to someone with sleep apnea or being Hispanic, Black, or a Pacific Islander. If you have one or more of these risk factors, you are more prone to being diagnosed with sleep apnea.
Never sleep on your back if you experience the symptoms of sleep apnea. Most sleep apnea patients spend the night on their backs and that can interfere with the airways. Wedge a pillow in place to keep your body resting on your side while sleeping.
One great way to track your sleep progress, especially if you sleep alone, is by recording yourself in the night. The next day you can watch for signs of apnea and see if there are specific times or triggers that cause the apnea. This is a great resource for your medical professional as well.
If you have sleep apnea, and your CPAP does not seem to be working out for you, consider alternate types of machines. You may be a person who needs the air pressure to change throughout the night as you sleep. Your doctor can prescribe a machine that uses different technologies to deliver air, such as an APAP, a BiPAP, or a machine equipped with C-FLEX. Each of these adjusts the pressure up and down as you sleep, which can make it more comfortable and effective for you.
Reduce your weight to combat sleep apnea. Increased weight is often a cause of sleep apnea because the increased weight causes the airways to be narrower, thus allowing them to collapse more easily during sleep. By dropping your weight you can reduce the compression the airways and minimize issues while sleeping.
If you have sleep apnea, or if you simply snore at night, try learning to play a wind instrument. They can be enjoyable and calming, and it has also been been shown that constantly using them strengthens throat muscles and helps people to breathe more easily when sleeping. Any instrument that strengthens your airway muscles can improve your breathing at night.
Prior to going to bed, it is important to open up your nasal passages. This is so that you get enough air flow. To open up the nasal passages, you may want to use saline spray, a nasal dilator, a neti pot, breathing strips or whatever your doctor may have recommended.
If you consume alcohol or smoke, this could be the underlying cause of your sleep apnea symptoms. Meanwhile, smoking causes the swelling of the airways; alcohol does the complete opposite and relaxes them too much. If you want to be able to sleep well each night, limit or quit smoking and/or drinking.
Because sleep apnea is a problem of the throat and not the nose, making the throat muscles stronger can resolve many apnea symptoms. In an effort to strengthen throat muscles, many exercises can be done to help.
Check with your doctor about any medications that you are taking that may be causing your sleep apnea symptoms. Some prescription medications, such as muscle relaxers, may, in fact, promote the collapse of the soft tissue in the back of the throat which can contribute to the symptoms of sleep apnea.
If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, one of the simplest ways to improve your condition is to cut back on the amount of alcohol that you drink, especially before bedtime. Drinking alcohol causes throat muscles to relax and block off your throat, making it much more difficult to breathe.
Use a CPAP machine. You may not like the idea of sleeping in a machine, but many people who use a CPAP have found relief of their sleep apnea symptoms in a very short time. Such a machine may be uncomfortable at first, but if you stick with it, you will find a great deal of relief.
Don’t let sleep apnea take over your entire life. You may be worried and upset about having sleep apnea, but the truth is that there are many ways to treat it. Don’t stop living because you have apnea. Simply find ways to treat your apnea, and you can continue to enjoy the rest of your life.
If you have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine, be sure your spouse or other loved one knows all the details of your condition and treatment. There may come a time when you are in need of medical treatment and cannot speak for yourself. Your mate can let the medical team know about your sleep disorder, your doctor’s name, and what the pressure setting is on your CPAP machine.
Knowing that you have a problem is the first step to finding a solution. If you snore, have trouble sleeping, or feel tired all the time, you may be suffering from sleep apnea. Talk to your doctor right away if you are concerned about these problems, and they can help you find the treatment you need.