Sleep Apnea Treatment Options

If you snore loudly and often wake up feeling tired despite having a full night’s sleep, you could have sleep apnea. Untreated sleep apnea can cause serious health complications like depression, heart disease, and leaves you drowsy.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder caused by an involuntary stop in your breathing when sleeping. There are three types of sleep apnea.

• Obstructive sleep apnea

OSA is the common type of sleep apnea and it occurs when the muscles in the back of the throat relax causing the airways to narrow or close. This causes an insufficient supply of air lowering the oxygen levels. When this happens, the brain causes you to awaken to reopen the airways.

This process repeats a few times during the night impairing your sleep. These awakenings are brief and you won’t have a recollection of the events.

• Central Sleep Apnea

CSA occurs when the brain fails to transmit the signals to the breathing muscles. It may cause shortness of breath or difficulty sleeping.

• Complete Sleep Apnea Syndrome

This is also called treatment-emergent CSA and it occurs when you have both Central Sleep Apnea and Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Are There Any Risk Factors?

Sleep Apnea can affect all people, including children but certain factors can predispose you to sleep disorder such as:

• Excess weight
• Narrow airways
• Gender (affects males)
• Neck circumference
• Family history
• Smoking
• Nasal congestion

What Are the Treatment Options?

Different sleep apnea treatments exist that help to normalize breathing when sleeping. For mild sleep apnea cases, the dentist in Rochelle, IL may recommend lifestyle changes such as smoking and losing weight.

If these measures don’t improve the symptoms, other treatments may be used.

1.Therapies

Some of the therapies that the dentist can recommend include:

• CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure)

CPAP mask is used for moderate to severe sleep apnea. The machine is the perfect loud snoring treatment because it delivers air pressure to keep the airway passages open.

• Oral appliances

Oral appliances are an alternative to CPAP as they are easier to use. These devices are designed to open the throat by pushing the jaw forward, which relieves snoring.

2.Surgery

Surgery is an option if all the other treatments are unsuccessful. Some of the options include:

• Tissue removal.

The doctor will remove the tissue from the top of the throat and mouth. The tonsils and adenoids may also be removed. The procedure reduces vibrations and may be ideal if you can’t tolerate CPAP.

• Jaw repositioning

The procedure involves moving the jaw forward to enlarge the space behind the tongue and reduces obstruction.

• Tissue shrinkage

The procedure is ideal for mild sleep apnea. It involves shrinking the tissue at the back of the throat and the rear of the mouth.

• Implants

This is the planting of plastic rods into the soft palates.

• Nerve stimulation