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Sleep positioning can make a difference for obstructive sleep apnea. By getting off the back and onto the side, one could avoid having the tongue fall backwards, include the airway. A wedge pillow may also be helpful because it will raise the head off the bed.
Sleep positioning can make a difference for obstructive sleep apnea. By getting off the back and onto the side, one could avoid having the tongue fall backwards, include the airway. A wedge pillow may also be helpful because it will raise the head off the bed.
At this time, there's no medication that will help obstructive sleep apnea. There's other treatments like oral appliance therapy and C-PAP and weight loss and positional therapy. But no medications exist at this time.
Since some of the parts of sleep apnea are associated with lifestyle. We can make some changes that might change the severity of sleep apnea, such as weight loss, or being careful about too much alcohol too late at night since alcohol can relax the airways and relax muscles. I can take somebody who doesn't snore and give them a six pack of beer and I can make them into a snorer. And I can take somebody who already snores and give them a six pack of beer and make them into a sleep. APNIC we also know that nasal congestion can make things worse, but generally when people have obstructive sleep apnea and it's not related to medications or alcohol or weight, it's not going anywhere. It only tends to get worse. Unfortunately, with aging, as our muscles become a little more lax, as we get older, while we can go to the gym and work out our biceps and triceps, it's very hard to work out the airway muscles. So sleep apnea once it's there tends to continue through lifetime and make it worse as time goes on, unless we have some reversible lifestyle changes we can make.
There are a variety of effective treatments for obstructive sleep apnea. Sometimes it's as simple as asking somebody to sleep on their side rather than their back, because their sleep apnea only occurs while they're sleeping on their back. Another option may be losing weight. Sometimes people's sleep apnea is associated with extra weight and weight loss will help. Another option that's become more popular and more effective. These days is an oral appliance for sleep apnea made by specialized dentists who make a dental device that bring the bottom jaw gently forward over time to make more room at the back of the airway. And that too will treat sleep apnea and snoring probably the most well-known and most accepted type of treatment for sleep apnea is C-PAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. And what we do is have a small machine that sits by the bedside that delivers some warm, moist air through a mask, either over the nose or over the nose and mouth that gives some pressure to keep the airway open. So it doesn't collapse. There's no snoring and then there's no more sleep apnea.
There are few surgical options to treat obstructive sleep apnea. They may include fixing a deviated septum or shrinking down swollen, nasal turbinates, a good ear nose throat doctor can do this. Sometimes they'll do a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy and even shave away some of the upper soft palate to make more room in the back of the airway. We also may do a huge surgery. That's not frequently performed, but still is performed to help treat sleep apnea. This is literally advancing the jaw. Breaking some bones are involved, but bringing the jaw forward would make more room at the back of the throat to treat sleep apnea. A new surgical procedure that's currently being performed is actually implanting a small device into the chest wall that has electrical stimulation to the back of a tongue. And that prevents the tongue from being floppy and flimsy during the night. So it won't allow it to occlude the airway. It's actually controlled by a small work remote control, just like for the TV. And it's turned on at night when a person goes to bed and then begins to give gradual electrical stimulation to that tongue. And this too works to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
Certified in Sleep Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine
Certified in Obesity Medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine
Certified in Sleep Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine
Certified in Obesity Medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine
Certified in Sleep Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine
Certified in Obesity Medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine
Certified in Sleep Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine
Certified in Obesity Medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine
Certified in Sleep Medicine by the American Board of Internal Medicine
Certified in Obesity Medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine