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How You Can Better Manage Your Sleep Apnea

A lot of individuals commit the error of assuming that constant exhaustion is just normal and that they can do nothing to change it. This is false. Sleep apnea is a fact of life for many people and is something everyone needs to know about.

Stop your destructive ways. The worst thing you can do to contribute to sleep apnea by drinking and smoking. Your respiratory system will not be happy with you if you drink all the time. Smoking adds harmful chemicals which damage your lungs over time. Letting these habits go can reduce your symptoms and make sleeping easier.

To help deal with sleep apnea effectively, you should speak with your doctor to help him show you what CPAP machine works best. The machine size and how loud it is are things you should think about. The newer CPAP machines are much smaller and quieter than earlier ones were. Your physician can recommend the best manufacturers in the industry.

While people who are thin can have sleep apnea for various reasons, one common reason many people have it is being overweight. Every attempt should be made to lose weight if a person is overweight and has sleep apnea. The simplest way to take off the weight is to eat fewer calories and engage in daily exercise. Research has proven that reducing the number of carbohydrates one consumes throughout the day helps people in losing weight.

Do you drink and smoke? Quit these terrible habits. They may hurt your air passages. Smoking can cause your airways to swell up while alcohol will make your airway more relaxed, which can cause sleep apnea. If you must continue with these habits, avoid doing them before bed.

If your narrow airways are causing sleep apnea, get a mouth guard designed for sleeping. Narrow airways can be opened, jaws can be properly aligned and nasal passages can be opened up to allow more air into the lungs. Talk to your physician about a mouth guard you can wear during sleep to help you control your condition.

Sleep Apnea

Do you smoke or drink? Quit these vices. These items can harm your airways. Inflammation is caused by smoking and alcohol use causes your airways to collapse, both of which can produce sleep apnea symptoms. If you are unable to completely eliminate these habits, try to at least refrain from them in the hours directly before bed.

If you’re a smoker or a drinker (or both) who’s also dealing with sleep apnea, you may find that giving up your vices will solve your sleep disorder. Both of these habits are bad for the muscles in your air passage and can worsen apnea. Some people resort to invasive surgeries to correct their sleep apnea without realizing that discontinuing these bad habits could have been a more simple and much cheaper route!

If you have a prescription for sleep apnea and you are prescribed a CPAP, you should at least use it four hours every night. Some find that it can be uncomfortable to use at first, but the point is to use it and ward off trouble. Four hours of use every night is the minimum necessary time you need to realize the benefits of CPAP therapy. If you struggle to adjust to it in the beginning, try using the CPAP for about four hours while you sleep.

Use a fitted sleep apnea mouth guard. These are made for people with sleep apnea. They make a good substitute for CPAP machine use, and provide better nighttime comfort. A mouth guard will work by positioning the jaw and tongue in a helpful way that will allow for easier breathing while asleep.

Sleep apnea is no joke. If you see any signs, go get yourself an opinion right away. When you have a diagnosis, your doctor may send you to a specialist or set you up with other tests.

Do not neglect your CPAP machine if it has been prescribed to you. Some find that it can be uncomfortable to use at first, but the point is to use it and ward off trouble. Good health over the long term is what is important, and you need to build up the amount of time you use it until you can use it throughout the night. Just use it as much as possible and you’ll get used to using it after a couple of weeks.

Sleep apnea can be extremely tricky to diagnose yourself, especially if you sleep alone without a loved one to tell you about minor sleep problems you experience. You can always set up a camcorder to make a video of a typical night’s sleep. Make sure that the microphone on your recording device picks up any snoring or other noises you make while sleeping, because your physician needs to hear them.

A good diet can help anyone control their weight while also helping to fight sleep apnea. A lot of people would be surprised to learn that eating badly makes sleep apnea worse. Studies show that people who eat low quality foods suffer from apnea worse than overweight people that eat healthy foods.

If you suffer from sleep apnea, make sure you treat your allergy and sinus problems. Remember that you already face difficulties from your sleep apnea. You don’t need anything else adding to that. By treating your allergies or sinus problems, you will be more likely to get a full night’s rest and have energy for the day.

Cut back on your alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol relaxes the muscles of your throat and airway. While this might often be a desirable side effect of drinking, it can also cause sleep apnea. Alcohol will relax the throat muscles, which ends up making it harder for the body to control the airways. If you do drink alcohol, avoid drinking it 3 hours before bedtime.

Exercise your tongue and minimize sleep apnea symptoms. For three minutes, press your tongue up to the roof of your mouth. Doing this strengthens your tongue and the connective throat muscles; this in turn makes them less likely to relax at night and constrict your breathing passages.

Take back a good night of rest by side sleeping. The airway obstructions that cause sleep apnea are far more likely to occur if you sleep on your back than in any other position. Try to fall asleep on one of your sides to see if your symptoms get better.

Sleeping on your back can make your sleep apnea worse, so try to fall asleep on your side. Something with an odd shape sewn into your sleeping attire can prevent you from returning to the back position whilst sleeping. Doing this will make sleeping on your back very uncomfortable.

It is hard to know whether or not you are having difficulty breathing at night if you sleep alone. Record yourself to get a better picture of what is happening while you sleep. The video should also contain audio in order to hear the noises that occur while you’re sleeping.

If you have to go on a plane make sure you tell them you have a CPAP machine. As long as you let them know ahead of time, many airlines will make an effort to seat you in an area where you can use your machine. Make sure you bring a power adapter if you fly on a foreign airline.

If nothing is working to better your sleep apnea, try talking to a doctor about more aggressive treatments. Standard treatment vectors of sleep apnea do not work for certain individuals, and they wind up going in for surgical options. These can include tonsil removal and airway enlargements.

Many people with snoring issues or minor sleep apnea can find relief by learning to play a wind instrument. It is not only soothing, but in a German trial study, it was proven that playing the Didgeridoo or any wind instrument can drastically calm sleep apnea symptoms. This can help you control your problem.

Try and lose weight because it will help you deal with sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is correlated with being fat and having a large neck. When you lose weight it takes a lot of the pressure off of your airways and allows you to breathe more easily when you sleep.

Be aware that sleep apnea is not something you will always know is occurring at night. You should tell your doctor about any symptoms of fatigue, drowsiness or nodding off while driving. Your symptoms may mean sleep apnea even if you don’t know you gasp for air every night.

If you have sleep apnea, stop smoking. Smoking can cause swelling in the airways, exacerbating sleep apnea. To quit, try using nicotine replacement treatment or a cessation program. Usually the first 30 or so days is the hardest part. Once you are past the first few weeks, the nicotine craving begin to lessen significantly.

People suffering from sleep apnea are well advised not to sleep on their backs. It can restrict your airway and make it hard to breathe. Pillows may assist you in side sleeping.

Throat exercises can help strengthen your muscles and fight sleep apnea. Your muscles become stronger with these exercise, making the airways less likely to collapse. One such exercise is to use your tongue and press on the top of your mouth. Maintain this pressure for around three minutes before releasing. This exercise can be done 1-2 times per day, every day.

There are throat exercises for sleep apnea sufferers that have been found quite effective. Just as exercises help to strengthen muscles in other parts of your body, these oral exercises will help strengthen your tongue and throat muscles for a better night’s sleep. One example would be pressing your entire tongue against the top of your mouth, holding it there for multiple minutes and then letting go. You should practice this exercise once daily.

Avoid back sleeping if you suffer from sleep apnea. Falling asleep right on your back will hurt you, because you won’t get a clear passage for your lungs to breath. Your best option if you have sleep apnea is to sleep on your side; gravity then won’t work so much against you.

If you have sleep problems, then consult your doctor to find the root of them by getting a comprehensive sleep study. A sleep lab can tell you if your sleep apnea is a correct diagnosis for you or whether something else is going on. They can also recommend what will be helpful to your situation. The following step would be identifying a treatment regimen, even for milder cases.

A large number of sleep apnea sufferers sleep on their backs. If you sleep on your back, think about changing positions. There have been studies and reports that show how side sleeping will alleviate many symptoms of sleep apnea and improve the quality of sleep.

Make sure you don’t drink any alcohol before bed. Your throat muscles become relaxed, and it makes it harder for you to breath during sleep. You don’t need to abstain from alcohol entirely. You only need to refrain from drinking during the few hours before bedtime.

Now that you know about sleep apnea and possible treatments for it, your nights should be easier to get through. Do not believe that chronic tiredness is normal. Speak to your physician about sleep apnea and sleep better.

Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a serious condition, so just guessing at a diagnosis could be dangerous. Tell your doctor everything that’s been going on, determine the exact cause and take immediate action.

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About The Author

Written by
Kathy Berry

Kathy Berry is professional surveillance camera experts, understand more than 1,000 surveillance cameras, and have a wealth of surveillance camera related knowledge

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