Do you feel tired in the morning even though you were in bed for at least 8 hours? Were you tossing and turning and did it seem like you could only sleep for a few minutes at a time? And does your partner complain about your grunting snoring? If any of this sounds familiar then you might have sleep apnea.
Obstructive sleep apnea is where there is blockage of the airway in the back of the throat. This blockage causes the sleep apnea sufferer to wake up hundreds of times a night because the brain has stopped receiving oxygen. Millions of people suffer from this all over the world. There are also millions that have this condition and don’t know it.
In order to find out if you have sleep apnea you would go to a doctor, either a ENT or a pulmonologist (lung doctor). After describing your sleeping patterns they would probably set you up for a sleep study.
A sleep study is an overnight study in a hospital or specialized office. There are rooms set up as bedrooms with video cameras that are connected into another room where sleep techs observe your sleeping. You are also connected to wires that measure your brain waves and the number of times that you wake up when your airway is blocked.
The test takes all night and the tech will send the report to your doctor.
After examining the report the doctor can then determine whether you have sleep apnea or not. If you do have sleep apnea the usual cure is the cpap machine. The cpap machine blows air through a tube into a mask that fits over your face. This continuous air will force the airway to stay open making sure that you don’t stop breathing in the night. The only drawback to using the cpap is that not everyone is comfortable wearing a mask at night and the sound of the machine can also be cumbersome.
Alternatives to the cpap mask are dental devices and surgery, which is usually the last resort for sleep apnea.
Many people believe that all sleep apnea patients are overweight. That isn’t necessarily true. An enlarged tongue and tonsils also may block the airway. Certain face shapes may also cause sleep apnea.
