If you or someone you know isn’t sleeping enough or is fatigued, it is important to know that it could be caused by sleep apnea. Read on to gain more information.
Avoid unhealthy activities to control your sleep apnea. Drinking and smoking are the biggest offenders. Consuming alcohol can lead to trouble with your respiratory system. Smoking inserts carcinogens into the lungs, which eventually damages them. Letting these habits go can reduce your symptoms and make sleeping easier.
Drop some vices to fight against sleep apnea.Drinking alcohol and smoking are a couple of the condition. Drinking depresses the ability of your respiratory system to function. Smoking adds harmful chemicals which damage your lungs and damages them over time.Dropping these habits entirely will help ease the symptoms of sleep apnea.
A common reason for sleep apnea is due to the extra pounds on their bodies.
Some people’s sleep apnea can be traced to morbid obesity. In these cases, simply losing the extra weight can alleviate the symptoms. Exercising and following a regular weight loss plan is the best strategy. Reducing carbohydrate intake can help greatly, as well.
Try getting fitted for a mouth guard. These special guards are specially made for sleep apnea sufferers. It provides a more comfortable alternative to using a CPAP machine. The device assists you by keeping the airway open while offering stability for the soft tissues.
Sleep Apnea
Playing music on a wind instrument can be beneficial to your sleep apnea problems. A German study has shown that playing wind instruments such as the digeridoo will help your sleep apnea. These muscles control the dilation of your airway and the stiffening of the airway walls. For this reason, playing regularly helps you get a good night of rest by limiting the symptoms of sleep apnea and snoring.
Eating healthily can help you deal with sleep apnea. A lot of people are surprised to learn how their poor diet can affect sleep apnea. Research indicates that those who consume low quality food demonstrate more severe sleep apnea than even overweight folks who eat healthy.
Many people who have sleep apnea also sleep while on their backs. Sleeping one one’s back may cause your throat muscles. Sleeping on one’s side makes breathing significantly easier. If you roll on your back when you sleep, you can try to prop pillows around yourself to prevent you from sleeping on your back.
A good diet can help anyone control their weight while also helping to fight sleep apnea. Many people may be surprised how much a poor diet plays in the symptoms of sleep apnea. It has been shown in studies that those who eat unhealthier foods face more severe sleep apnea than their overweight, yet healthy-eating, counterparts.
You can consider recording yourself asleep. The video should be equipped with sound so that doctors can also hear any noises.
If you use a CPAP, make certain to always have medical ID on your person.
Don’t drink alcohol to excess. Alcohol has a relaxing effect on all your muscles. Although some people do enjoy this, it can contribute to sleep apnea. Like the rest of your muscles, those around your throat and airway relax under the influence of alcohol, making it harder for you to maintain a proper air passage. If you feel you must drink, try not to do it as often or before you go to sleep.
If you need to stay at a hospital for any reason, bring your CPAP with you to ensure you get restful sleep. Your CPAP and your mask should be with you whether you’re admitted to the hospital or visiting the emergency room.This will make continuing your CPAP therapy while at the hospital.
Avoid excessive drinking if you are a sleep apnea. Alcohol will relax your throat muscles beyond normality and will block your passages. If you can, have only one a few hours before bed.You will make sure that drinking has no effect on your sleep is not affected by the alcohol.
Give sleeping on your sides a try. Some sleep apnea patients lay on their backs. If you sleep on your back, you can cause your throat and mouth tissues to block the airways. It is best to sleep on one of your sides or your stomach. If your sleep tends to see you rolling onto your back, support yourself with pillows on one side or the other.
Don’t be embarrassed about using a CPAP machine to treat your sleep apnea.
How you sleep each night can determine the number of episodes you’ll have with your sleep apnea really is. This is why it’s essential to sleep properly. Lift your body up by using a foam wedge.
Your doctor might ask you to write down when you sleep and wake. Here, you will track your hours of successful sleep, when you awaken through the night and other problems you may encounter. Your partner can help with that, as they know whether you are a loud snorer or jerk about. This will greatly help your doctor in diagnosing your condition.
People that have sleep apnea may benefit if they learn to play a wind instrument. This new method will help your airways.
Throat exercises have been shown to help with the severity of sleep apnea. These exercises strengthen the muscles surrounding the airway, making them less likely to collapse.One example is pressing your tongue against the bony palate of the mouth and holding onto it for three minutes before releasing. Try doing this once a day.
Use a chin strap if you find your mouth continuing to fall open while you sleep with a CPAP machine. This is a small piece of fabric that holds your chin up while you sleep and keeps you mouth closed. Your CPAP machine cannot function properly if your mouth hangs open. Using a chin strap may help.
People with sleep apnea should avoid sleeping on their backs. Your airways will be much more prone to collapsing if you sleep on your back. Sleeping on your side can help you suffer from this condition.
Sleep apnea can be a problem for your throat and not your nose, which means strengthening them will help ease symptoms. There are many quick exercises that you can strengthen throat muscles.
Always have your CPAP machine with you while you sleep, even if it happens to be during a hospital stay. If the hospitalization was planned or for an emergency, you should still be sure that your CPAP and your mask are brought with you to be used while you’re there. It is already set to your pressure, and you will have the exact mask you are used to using every night. This lessens the stress of being away from home and enables you to continue the CPAP therapy while at the hospital.
Your doctor should be able to provide you with helpful information and advice. When you start a new treatment, it is best to seek the counsel of a doctor who can monitor the progress of your sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is technically defined as a lack of oxygen to your system while sleeping. This is why it can get worse at high elevations. Avoid sleeping in higher elevations as much as possible.
Consult with your doctor about surgery if you find that none of the less invasive options are helping with your symptoms of sleep apnea. Some people do not respond to conventional sleep apnea treatment options and consequently, as a last resort, they have to undergo a surgical treatment option, such as removing of the tonsils or adenoids, or enlarging of the airway.
Sleep Apnea
Don’t allow any breathing problems that are out of control. You need to pay attention to other breathing if you already are diagnosed with sleep apnea. If you think you’re coming down with a cold, you should immediately treat it so it doesn’t end up making the sleep apnea worse.
Stop putting yourself at risk for sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can run in the family, and that is one factor that can’t be changed. If you are an alcoholic, a smoker or are overweight, changing these factors may eliminate your sleep apnea.
This article gave you some ways you can deal with your sleep apnea. If you just ignore sleep apnea, you are setting yourself up for future health problems and low quality of life. This information can be shared with others to educate them about sleep apnea.