Anyone who has sleep apnea can benefit from the tips in this article. Sleep apnea can be debilitating for people that have it. Review the ideas presented within this article, and apply what you can in your life.
One way to fight against sleep apnea is to give up vices. Two of the biggest problems are drinking and smoking. Consuming alcohol can lead to trouble with your respiratory system. Smoking can create carcinogens inside of your lungs, which can damage them later on. Quit both these habits, and you’ll soon notice an improvement in your sleeping patterns.
Sleep Apnea
Do you drink and smoke? Get rid of behaviors that are not good for you. Both of these things affect your airway negatively and compound your sleep apnea problem. Smoking can cause your airways to swell up while alcohol will make your airway more relaxed, which can cause sleep apnea. If you can’t completely eliminate these habits, try avoiding them prior to bed.
Eating healthily can help you shed weight and relieve sleep apnea. Some people are surprised to learn how much a bad diet effects sleep apnea. Good nutrition can help many medical conditions, including sleep apnea.
Try losing weight if you are obese. Although it might not be the main cause, being overweight makes sleep apnea worse. If you are obese, lose at least 20 pounds to see if it makes a change for the better with your sleep apnea. It will also help ward off other medical conditions, too.
Don’t drink a lot of alcohol. Alcohol causes all the muscles in your body to lose their tension. This might be something you want to do but it can also exacerbate your sleep apnea. Your throat muscles become relaxed, making it harder for your airway to stay open. If you do drink alcohol, avoid drinking it 3 hours before bedtime.
Try using a mouth guard that’s custom-fitted for you. Guards such as these were designed for someone who suffers with sleep apnea. This is a good alternative to using the CPAP machine. You will find that this mouth guard stabilizes the soft tissues and allows the airways to be more open.
In an effort to get a restful night of sleep, sleep on your side if possible. Our airways can get obstructed if we sleep while on our backs. Try to fall asleep in a side position, and discover if that relieves your sleep apnea tonight.
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 people have a really hard time sleeping with the device. 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. As you become more accustomed to the sleep mask, you should be able to wear it longer.
If you are dealing with sleep apnea, you never want to take any sleeping pills. You could seriously damage your air passage ways if you take them while you have sleep apnea. Sleeping pills can actually really harm you and prevent any air from coming through your body, so stay away from them as much as possible.
Your doctor may suggest keeping a sleep journal to help pinpoint if you have sleep apnea or not. In it, you’ll be expected to log the hours you sleep nightly, any symptoms you may feel and the overall quality of your sleep. If you have a partner, you can find out about snoring issues, breathing issues or flailing limb issues. This will greatly help your doctor in diagnosing your condition.
Losing weight is a good way to cut chances of developing sleep apnea. A number of patients have found that shedding excess pounds is enough to resolve sleep apnea all by itself. Losing even just five pounds can make your sleep apnea symptoms go away.
If your sleep apnea requires the use of a CPAP machine, make certain that a medical ID is always with you. If you need medical attention, it’s crucial that others realize that you’ve got sleep apnea and that you use a CPAP. The ID should say that you have this condition, you require a CPAP, and it should identify the pressure levels you require for effective treatment.
Use a single, normal-sized pillow for sleeping. Over-sized pillows may lead to you sleeping in an unhealthy position. As a result, you may find it more difficult to breathe normally. Try out different pillows until you find just one pillow that allows you to lay your head flatter against the bed each night so you can breathe more freely.
If you suffer from sleep apnea and have issues with your sinuses or allergies, have them treated as soon as possible. It will help you breath better in general, especially during your sleep. You really don’t want anything else impacting your air flow during sleep. Keep your throat and airway as clear as you possibly can at all times.
Try to prevent snoring with an over-the-counter device. Snoring is caused by your airway closing; apnea is when your air passage has closed all together. A device that can help with snoring may also work to help with apnea. Use an anti-snoring device when you sleep.
Lose weight to prevent developing sleep apnea. Many people find that they can completely correct sleep apnea by losing excess weight. Even a little weight loss can improve the symptoms of sleep apnea and cause the airways and throat to open up more.
Risk Factors
Patients who suffer from sleep apnea might want to consider losing weight as a means to relieve the symptoms. Sometimes, sleep apnea is due to the excess weight around the neck area. If you lose that weight, the pressure on your air passage will be lessened, which will improve the quality of your breathing.
Eliminate all the risk factors you can. Some risk factors, which include being male and family history, are innate and unchangeable. Being overweight, drinking, smoking and weak throat muscles can all bring on sleep apnea.
Avoid back sleeping when you have sleep apnea. If you sleep on your back, your air passages may become blocked. Lie on your side and support yourself with pillows to avoid rolling onto your back.
One way to help with sleep apnea is to quit smoking. Smoking aggravates air passages. Try different things to help you quit smoking. The hardest period for the majority of smokers is the initial 30 days upon quitting. Once you are over that, you shouldn’t have as much trouble with cravings, as the nicotine has started leaving your body.
Contact the airline you will be flying on if you are flying overseas and will need to sleep on the airplane. Many will make arrangements so that you have a seat with plenty of room to use it. Also, don’t forget the power adapter you will need if you are booked with a foreign airline.
A CPAP machine can assist you in sleeping if you do have sleep apnea. Warm, moist air will help keep you asleep comfortably. Many CPAP machines come with built-in humidifiers now, so see if your doctor can prescribe one of those for you.
Sleep apnea sufferers may need to look for a simple solution in order to get a better night’s rest. Be sure to keep regular bedtime habits and get the same amount of sleep nightly. Make sure your environment is conducive to sleep as well, free of noise and distractions. If you are trying to rest in a loud setting, you can miss valuable sleep.
It is fine to get a CPAP machine, it’s natural for sleep apnea sufferers. Inform those that need to know about it, and don’t feel uncomfortable using your CPAP around those close to you. They want you healthy. Your health is the most important thing you should be focusing on, not wasting time on what others think of your machine. It’s quite possible they may find themselves with sleep apnea at some point in their own lives.
You aren’t always going to be aware of your sleep apnea. Waking up gasping for air makes a lot of noise, but it may not wake you up completely. Common symptoms of sleep apnea include unexplained exhaustion and falling asleep during the day.
If you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, give up sleeping facing up. Your apnea will worsen if you sleep on your back because your airways are more likely to collapse in that position. Do what you can to sleep while laying on your stomach or side at all times. You can use pillows behind your back to help keep you from moving onto your back to sleep.
Do not sleep on your back if sleep apnea afflicts you. When you sleep on your back, it often ends up blocking your airways, which in turn will cause problems with sleeping. Try side sleeping. If it does not seem natural to you, prop yourself using pillows.
Some research studies have pointed to throat excercises reducing the severity of sleep apnea. The muscles surrounding your airway get stronger, and that means they are less likely to collapse and make it hard to breathe. One good exercise involves pressing your tongue against the bony palate of the mouth and holding it for three minutes before releasing. Practice this technique at least once daily.
Work out your throat and jaw muscles regularly. Many times, sleep apnea is dependent on weak muscles, so take time to exercise them to improve your symptoms. Simply adding a few exercises into your daily routine can have a major effect on your condition.
There are some sleep apnea cases that you can cure with oral devices. This is caused by the shapes of people’s jaws, which can mean they have narrower airways. A corrective device will alter the jaw alignment and allow greater passage of air.
If the sleep apnea problem you are dealing with is due to excess tissue blocking your airways and throat, then surgery may be necessary to remedy this situation. A surgeon will use a procedure called UPPP (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty) to rid your airway of the excess tissue, thus, enlarging your airway and curing you of your sleep apnea. Even this simple surgery has some risks so ensure that you are aware of all potential outcomes.
As we said before, if you let your sleep apnea go you may become gravely ill. If you have sleep apnea, it’s crucial that you’re educated about you’re condition. When you use the tips laid out here, you can be sure you are doing all you can to save your health.
Consider joining a group if you have sleep apnea. People suffering from sleep apnea can feel like they are alone in their suffering. It’s quite possible that your loved ones will try to help, but do not really understand what you’re dealing with. Instead, seek out a group that deals with people who have this condition. If you are shy, check out online forums to get support and ideas for others with sleep apnea.
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