Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder that might lead to significant health issues, such as heart trouble and high blood pressure if left untreated. Obstructive sleep apnea makes breathing repeatedly stop while sleeping, leading to daytime tiredness and loud snoring, even after a full sleep at night. It is the kind of sleeping disorder that happens when a person’s breathing gets interrupted when sleeping. People suffering from extreme cases of sleep apnea might even stop breathing hundreds of times at night. So, if you have such a condition, here are the remedies of sleep apnea you should consider.
Table of Contents
1. The Conservative Remedies
In the mild cases of sleep apnea, conservative therapies might be helpful:
- Lose weight: Overweight people can benefit from shedding a few kilos. Even losing about ten percent of your body weight will reduce the frequency of apneic events for the patients. But losing weight might be hard if you have sleep apnea because of the increased appetite and metabolic changes. Talk to a medical professional to get a proper diet chart.
- Avoid sleeping pills and alcohol: You should avoid sleeping pills and alcohol that make the airways more likely to collapse and lengthen the apneic instances.
- Don’t sleep on your back: Breathing pauses occur in many patients only when they sleep on their back. Use wedge pillows or other devices that can help to sleep in a side position.
- Use breathing strips or nasal sprays: People who have nasal congestion or sinus problems need to use breathing strips or nasal sprays for improving airflow and breathing more comfortably at night. Patients with sleep disorders need to make sure that they aren’t consistently sleep-deprived.
2. Using Cannabidiol for Remedying Sleep Apnea
Some people have turned to Green Roads CBD to find relief from obstructive sleep apnea, and they claim that it has helped them a lot. Evidence suggests that CBD can work as an effective treatment for insomnia. However, it needs more research to confirm the efficacy of CBD as a therapy to treat sleep apnea, though the research so far has shown positive signs.
So, if your present CPAP machine is feeling uncomfortable, CBD might be a good alternative. Usually, it isn’t something that harms you; instead, it can help you.
3. The Mechanical Therapies
PAP (Positive Airway Pressure) therapy is one of the first treatments meted out to people with sleep apnea. Patients are asked to wear masks over their mouth and nose. Air gets gently forced through the mouth and the nose using an air blower. A slight adjustment of air pressure ensures that the upper airways do not collapse during sleep.
It prevents the airways’ closure when used, but the apnea attacks tend to return when PAP isn’t done properly or stopped suddenly. Several types and styles of PAP devices are available in the market based on the patients’ particular needs. Some of these types are:
- Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) is a widely used PAP device set at one pressure.
- Bi-Level PAP has one pressure for breathing in and a lower pressure for breathing out.
- Auto Bi-Level PAP or Auto CPAP utilizes a wide range of pressure for self-regulating the use based on the machine’s pressure requirements.
- ASV (Adaptive Servo-Ventilation) is non-invasive ventilation that the patients use to treat central sleep apnea. It keeps the airways open and offers a compulsory breathing facility, as needed.
4. Mandibular Advancement Techniques
Mandibular advancement devices are for patients who suffer from mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea. Oral mandibular advancement tools or dental appliances help prevent your tongue from blocking your throat, and the low jaw can get advanced.
The device aids in keeping the airways open while you sleep. Sleep dentists and specialists, who are experienced in designing and offering oral appliances, for this reason, need to consider whether this is the right treatment for you to consider whether this is the proper treatment for you jointly.
5. Hypoglossal Nerve Stimulators
Doctors implant the simulator under the patient’s skin on the right side of their chest. Electrodes from the stimulators get tunneled under the skin to hypoglossal nerves in the neck and intercostal muscles between the two ribs in the chest.
Patients turn the device on at bedtime using a remote control. The hypoglossal nerve gets stimulated with every breath, and the tongue goes forward out of the patient’s airways to open the airways.
6. The Surgical Procedures for Sleep Apnea
Surgical procedures might help people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea and even others who tend to snore but do not have sleep apnea. Most of the surgeries for sleep apnea are outpatient procedures. Surgery for sleep apnea is not for everyone. You should only consider it under the following circumstances:
- Malformed or excessive tissue that obstructs airflow through the throat or nose like a deviated nasal septum
- Considerably enlarged tonsils blocking the airflow
- Small lower jaw with an overbite that makes the throat abnormally narrow
Doctors would only suggest surgical procedures after sleep apnea fails to respond to the trials of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure and conservative remedies.
Signing Off
Sleep apnea is not a condition you can take lightly, particularly when you have crossed 50 years. So, if you have been feeling the signs and symptoms of it, follow the remedies shared above. If the condition is severe, then get in touch with a medical professional without further delay. Controlling the condition becomes more straightforward when it gets checked right on time by an expert.
Also read: Why Is Sleep Important? 5 Reasons For Getting A Good Night’s Rest
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