Terri Ramsey Beavers What do you know about sleep apnea? Did you know that it affects millions of people worldwide, with about 22 million Americans? The condition occurs due to various reasons, but unfortunately, it’s primarily undiagnosed.
Sleep apnea affects the quality of your sleep-disrupting your daily life activities and life quality. If you are suffering from sleep apnea in Roslyn, the dental experts at ToothDocs offer various therapies to help treat and improve your condition. Contact them today to learn more about sleep apnea treatment.
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleep health disorder that interferes with a person’s breathing while asleep. It involves breathing, starting and stopping repeatedly, and can happen up to a hundred times.
Usually, when you stop breathing, the brain senses a decrease in oxygen levels and awakens you to restart your breathing. Even though you may not remember waking up, the recurrent wakening lowers the quality of your sleep, which may affect your daily routine.
What are the different types of sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea occurs in three forms, including
- Obstructive sleep apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of sleep apnea. It occurs when the muscles in the back of your throat relax while you are asleep, blocking the airway.
- Central sleep apnea
Central sleep apnea happens when the brain fails to send the right signals to the muscles responsible for controlling your breathing.
- Complex sleep apnea syndrome
Complex sleep apnea syndrome is when you have both obstructive and central sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea affects people of all ages, including children. Some of the factors that may increase your risk for sleep apnea include:
- Family history
- Excess weight
- Being older
- Being a male
- Having a narrowed airway
- A thicker neck
- Smoking
- Medical conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease
- Nasal congestion
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea?
Sometimes it may be challenging to differentiate the type of sleep apnea you have. However, the most common symptoms of sleep apnea include;
- Loud snoring
- Morning headache
- Gasping for air during sleep
- Excessive daytime sleepiness
- Irritability
- Difficulty staying asleep
- Awakening with a dry mouth
- Episodes where you stop breathing during sleep, usually noticed by another person
- Difficulty paying attention while awake
It would be best to see a doctor when you experience the above sleep apnea symptoms or in case of a sleep problem that makes you tired and irritable.
Diagnosis and treatment
During your consultation, your provider performs a sleep study to evaluate if you have a sleep disorder. Usually, you spend the night at a sleep lab while your provider monitors your brain activity, heart rate, oxygen levels, and breathing.
After getting the diagnosis results, your doctor recommends treatment for you, depending on the severity of your symptoms.
Continuous positive airway pressure therapy is among the most effective treatments for sleep apnea. However, it can be uncomfortable for some people, wherein that case, the dental experts at ToothDocs offer oral appliances to help with your sleep apnea.
Talk to a sleep apnea specialist today
If sleep apnea affects your life quality, the highly skilled dentists at ToothDocs can help you. They offer customized oral appliance therapy that helps promote your sleep quality. For more details, call them today to book your appointment.