Sleep Apnea Treatment

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that can cause life-threatening risks if not properly treated. The primary objectives for treating sleep apnea must involve:

• Restoration of regular breathing while sleeping
• Relieving symptoms like loud snoring and daytime sleepiness

Some of the most effective ways of treating sleep apnea are:

Using a Mouthpiece

A mouthpiece or an oral appliance can be helpful for those suffering from mild sleep apnea. A custom-fit plastic mouthpiece for the treatment of sleep apnea can be used by the patients. The mouthpiece will adjust the lower jaw and the tongue so that your airways stay open while you sleep. However, many patients feel a discomfort while using such devices. Mouthpiece is also recommended by doctors to loud snorers but who do not have sleep apnea.

How useful are Therapies?

The most common treatment for those having moderate or severe sleep apnea is Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or CPAP. This kind of treatment involves using a mask that fits over your mouth and nose and a machine to control the airflow to your nasal passageway. The machine slowly blows air into the throat which presses on the wall of the nasal airway and keeps it open.

However, CPAP treatment can cause some side effects like a dry or stuffy nose, headaches, sore eyes and irritated skin on the face. In case the CPAP is not adjusted properly, then the patient may experience stomach bloating and discomfort while wearing the mask. If you are having side effects while using the CPAP machine, you must consult your sleep specialist and the CPAP technician. The specialist may ask you to add moisture to the air flowing through the mask or change the size of the mask.

Unlike CPAP, Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure or BiPAP helps in building a higher pressure when inhaling and a lower pressure when exhaling. This treatment helps in assisting the weak breathing pattern of central sleep apnea. There are some BiPAP devices that can be set automatically for delivering a breath in case the device detects that you have not taken one after many seconds.

Adaptive servo-ventilation or ASV learns the normal breathing pattern and stores the information in an in-built computer. The machine will use pressure for normalizing your breathing pattern and even prevent pauses in your breathing when you will be sleeping.

Can surgery help?

Surgery can also help some people suffering from sleep apnea. The type of surgery needed and its success will depend up on the cause of the sleep apnea. Surgery mainly involves:

• Removing excess tissue in the throat
• Shrinking or stiffening excess tissue in the mouth and throat
• Resetting the lower jaw

For stiffening the excess tissue in the throat, the doctors make a small cut in the tissue and insert a tiny piece of stiff plastic. Surgery is performed in the hospital and after the surgery you can have throat pain for about one to two weeks. The other surgery options include correction of the nasal passage and the Oropharynx passage. Usually, after the surgery the patient needs to undergo a CPAP session for some days.

Tonsils are sometimes noticed to block the air passage in children causing sleep apnea. In such cases tonsils are removed through surgery to free the airway.

Other treatment options

• Changing the sleeping positions is a good way of treating sleep apnea. This treatment involves sleeping in different positions to ease the nasal passageway.
• In acupuncture, fine needles are inserted into different parts of the body, which might facilitate the release of body-healing hormones and help in sleep apnea.
• Orthodontists offer several methods of treatment, including Orthodontic Appliances and or Orthognathic Surgery.
• Lifestyle changes can be very helpful in treating sleep apnea. Reducing the drinking quota, controlling cigarette smoking and getting rid of drugs would prove extremely effective for treating sleep apnea.