Lifestyle Remedies Can Help with Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition that affects approximately 5% of Americans. People affected by sleep apnea will stop breathing for short periods when they are sleeping. They don’t take in sufficient oxygen which causes them to gasp and wake-up regularly.
People are usually unaware that they have stopped breathing and believe their sleep cycle is normal. Snoring loudly is a common problem with this condition. Several health problems can be caused by sleep apnea apart from leaving people tired during the day. When it is left untreated sleep apnea can:
- Trigger mental health issues.
- Lead to poor immune function.
- Contribute to memory loss.
- Increase your risks to cardiac problems.
How to Understand If You Are Suffering from Sleep Apnea?
As mentioned earlier the main symptom of sleep apnea is loud snoring and waking up regularly during the night because of lack of oxygen. The loud snoring may even cause your partner to wake-up leaving him or her feeling tired in the morning. You have three options to get your condition diagnosed.
You can visit a physician, a cardiologist or a dentist to have your condition diagnosed but must remember that all professionals will be referring you to a sleep physician who may recommend the gold standard polysomnography tests, or home sleep apnea tests before arriving at a diagnosis. Both these tests are expensive and when combined with the costs of visiting the professionals can prove difficult for you to manage. You can also visit a dentist for sleep apnea treatment because he or she can provide you an affordable option in the form of an oral appliance if you have been diagnosed as positive for sleep apnea.
What Lifestyle Remedies Are Useful for Sleep Apnea?
Traditional remedies for sleep apnea will include wearing a CPAP mask during the night. This is an effective method but many people find it uncomfortable. In such cases, people can either adapt some of the remedies suggested in this article or prefer the treatment offered by their dentist to deal with sleep apnea.
What Can People Do from Home to Manage This Condition?
Maintain Healthy Weight
Obesity in the upper body is common with people that suffer from sleep apnea. The extra weight can obstruct the airway and narrow the nasal passages. The obstructions can cause people to stop breathing suddenly or for lengths of time when sleeping. People must, therefore, maintain a healthy weight and keep their airways clear to reduce the symptoms of sleep apnea.
Yoga
Regular exercise can increase your energy levels, strengthen your heart and improve the condition of sleep apnea. Yoga is particularly helpful to improve your respiratory strength and encourage the flow of oxygen. Decreased oxygen saturation in the blood is the reason why people suffer from this problem. The various breathing exercises of yoga can improve oxygen levels and therefore reduce the number of sleep interruptions that are experienced.
Altering Sleep Positions
Changing sleep positions may not seem important but has indicated that it can reduce sleep apnea symptoms to give people a good night’s rest. Studies conducted have proved that more than 50% of obstructive sleep apnea cases are affected by sleeping positions. Altering the sleeping position and sleeping on the side rather than the back can improve the symptoms of this condition.
Avoiding Alcohol And Smoking
People willing to adopt lifestyle changes will find their health improving and encouraging better sleeping habits. However, they must quit smoking and limit their alcohol intake to reduce the complications of sleep apnea. The throat muscles that control breathing are relaxed by alcohol which can lead to snoring and an interrupted sleep cycle. Tobacco can also cause inflammations and swelling in the airways to worsen the snoring.
Oral Appliances from a Dentist
Oral Appliances pioneered by dentists are helpful for sleep apnea because they help people to reposition the jaw or tongue to keep the airway open when sleeping. Oral appliances work by moving the lower jaw or tongue in a forward position to decrease the obstruction at the back of the throat. Support has been provided to oral Appliances by the American Academic of Dental Sleep Medicine as an effective remedy for sleep apnea.
Oral Appliances are recommended to people with sleep apnea that are unable to tolerate the CPAP device. Sleep apnea therapy in Kingman regularly treats patients with sleep apnea after having them evaluated by a sleep medicine physician before providing a custom fit oral appliance that works effectively against sleep apnea.