All About Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is a condition that disrupts your ability to breathe normally while sleeping, affecting the quality of your rest. It can cause you to wake up frequently throughout the night, gasp for air, suffer from headaches in the morning, feel exhausted or groggy during the day, and snore excessively—often to the point where it disrupts your partner’s sleep as well.
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea: This is the more common type, which occurs when the airway becomes blocked due to relaxation of throat muscles during sleep.
- Central Sleep Apnea: In this form, the problem lies in the brain’s failure to properly send signals to the muscles responsible for controlling breathing.
There are two main types of sleep apnea:
What Are the Benefits of Sleep Apnea Treatment?
A restful night’s sleep is vital to both your physical and emotional well-being. Even if you don’t remember waking up during the night, sleep apnea is still disrupting your rest, which can have both short-term and long-term impacts on your health, relationships, and overall quality of life. Aside from finally enjoying a restful night of sleep, here are some of the key benefits of treating sleep apnea:
Improved Physical Health
Treating sleep apnea can lower your risk of developing high blood pressure, heart problems, type 2 diabetes, liver issues, and can reduce stress on your metabolic system. Additionally, addressing sleep apnea can help reduce the risks associated with surgeries and certain medications.
Feel Like Yourself Again
Do you often feel foggy or forgetful during the day? Sleep apnea can leave you feeling groggy and mentally sluggish. After treatment, many patients report feeling clearer, more focused, and like themselves again, with renewed energy throughout the day.
Enhance Your Relationships
Treating sleep apnea benefits both you and your partner. By reducing or completely eliminating snoring and sleep disruptions, both of you will enjoy a more restful, uninterrupted night of sleep. This leads to better moods, and starting your day refreshed makes work, parenting, and relationships much more enjoyable. A good night’s sleep can really boost your outlook—and it’s contagious!
How Is Sleep Apnea Treated?
Treatment for sleep apnea depends on its cause and severity, with options tailored to your lifestyle. Here are the main approaches:
Lifestyle Modifications
For mild cases, changes like weight loss, avoiding alcohol and sleeping pills, improving sleep posture, and quitting smoking can help. These simple steps are often recommended in combination with other treatments.
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
CPAP therapy involves wearing a mask over your nose and/or mouth while you sleep. It delivers a steady stream of air to keep your airways open, helping you breathe normally throughout the night. Different mask and machine options are available for comfort.
Oral Appliances
Mouthguard-like devices worn while sleeping can alleviate sleep apnea symptoms. These appliances may reduce snoring, shift the jaw forward, or stabilize the tongue to keep your airway clear.
Surgery and Medication
In some cases, surgery (e.g., correcting a deviated septum or widening the airway) or medication may be needed to treat sleep apnea.
Contact us today
to schedule an initial consultation & exam.
Your consultation will include an examination of everything from your teeth, gums and soft tissues to the shape and condition of your bite. Generally, we want to see how your whole mouth looks and functions. Before we plan your treatment we want to know everything about the health and aesthetic of your smile, and, most importantly, what you want to achieve so we can help you get there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sleep apnea symptoms often stem from a lack of deep sleep. A person with sleep apnea might snore loudly, stop breathing for short periods while asleep, gasp or choke during the night, frequently wake to use the washroom, or feel unsatisfied after sleep. During the day, they may experience headaches, trouble concentrating, irritability, memory issues, brain fog, and a reduced sex drive.
Sleep apnea can have various causes. In adults, obstructive sleep apnea is most common and is often linked to excess weight or obesity. To determine the specific type and cause, a professional evaluation is necessary.
Sleep apnea deprives the body of oxygen, prompting the brain to briefly wake you to reopen your airway. These awakenings are often so brief that you may not remember them, though they can happen more than 30 times a night, leaving you feeling groggy in the morning.
Certain factors can increase the likelihood of developing sleep apnea, including being overweight, male, having a family history of the condition, using alcohol or sleep aids, smoking, or having nasal congestion. Sleep apnea is also more common among older adults.
Studies suggest that sleeping on your side (lateral position) is the most effective position for alleviating sleep apnea and reducing snoring.
Although obstructive sleep apnea is most often linked to excess weight, it can also affect individuals who are at a healthy weight. The condition has several potential causes, meaning that even people who aren’t overweight can still experience sleep apnea.
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