Do you experience unexplained fatigue even though you had a good night’s rest? Or do you have sore throats every other morning? If this is your typical day, you need to visit our dentist at 07960 for sleep apnea treatment near you.
Our bodies were designed to rest no less than six hours each night for you to function at your optimum. Nevertheless, if you suffer from sleep apnea, you might not know what a good night’s rest is all about. What could be worse is that you might not even know if you are suffering from this sleep disorder.
But you are not alone. Statistics reveal that millions of people might not even know that they need sleep apnea treatment since the sleep apnea symptoms happen at night when one is sleeping. In any case, let’s get acquainted with sleep apnea before we look at what our dentist in Morristown can do for you.
Sleep Apnea 101
Loud snoring is at times mistaken for sleep apnea. Loud snoring is not an indicator that you are suffering from sleep apnea, but it is at times a symptom of sleep apnea. Surprisingly though, you can snore and not have sleep apnea.
The sleep disorder is severe since it causes breathing pauses or interruptions while asleep. The breathing pauses might last close to 20 seconds and may happen almost 100 times in one night. So it means that your entire body will be oxygen-deprived all through the night.
Sleep apnea is usually classified as follows:
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). OSA occurs when the soft tissue at your throat relaxes and blocks the airways.
- Central Sleep Apnea (CSA). At times, the brain’s system for controlling the breathing muscles isn’t working well, causing you to have shallower and slower breathing.
- Mixed sleep apnea. This refers to a scenario where you have central and obstructive sleep apnea.
Causes of Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs when the muscles or soft tissue in the back of your throat overrelax and hinder normal breathing. The muscles are responsible for holding the structures at the back of the roof of your mouth, tonsils, uvula (a triangular piece of tissue that hangs from the soft palate), and tongue.
When these muscles relax, your airway becomes narrow hindering breathing for about 10 seconds or more. There will be a decrease in the oxygen level in your blood, which leads to an accumulation of carbon dioxide.
Your brain will notice that you are not breathing as you should and will rouse you from sleep to reopen the airway. You might wake up snorting, gasping, choking, or coughing. The awakening is usually so brief that you might not even remember.
The problem is that this pattern will impair your ability to reach the deep phases of sleep, and you will feel sleepy during the day.
Some of the risk factors that you need to be aware of are:
- Obesity
- Nasal congestion
- Use of sedatives and alcohol
- Hormone abnormalities
- Family history
- Sleeping on your back
- Cigarette smoking
- Anatomical characteristics such as poor sleeping posture
What Is Sleep Apnea Treatment?
You should always peel your eyes for sleep apnea symptoms, especially if you are in the high-risk bracket. If you don’t address sleep apnea, you will have to deal with other severe overall health issues.
In any case, sleep apnea treatment near you is dependent on the severity of your issue and the cause of the disorder. The whole idea is to try and normalize your breathing when you are asleep.
Here are the modes of treatment:
Lifestyle Changes
Our dentist in 07960 may recommend lifestyle changes when you have mild sleep apnea. The lifestyle changes you can make will include stopping smoking, weight loss, avoiding alcohol, treating nasal allergies, side sleeping, etc.
Therapies
If lifestyle changes are not effective, our dentist in Morristown may recommend the following therapies:
- Positive Airway Pressure Devices
This mode of treatment is the most widely used to deal with moderate and severe cases. These devices come with masks placed over the nose and mouth to supply pressurized air into your throat throughout the night.
- Oral Appliances
There are almost 100 different appliances that can be used to deal with sleep apnea. These appliances resemble mouthguards and are designed to prevent the muscles from blocking the airways.
- Surgery
If all the above sleep apnea treatments don’t work, then undergoing surgery will be your best bet. Different surgical procedures can be used to ensure that your breathing is normalized.
If you want to know more about sleep apnea treatments, contact us at Dental Care of Morristown.