Are you or your partnered troubled by a lack of restful sleep; or are issues with snoring keeping you awake? If you’ve ruled everything else out, maybe you have sleep apnea. If you suspect sleep apnea, your first step should be to read the tips presented here.
Do you smoke or drink alcoholic beverages? Address your bad habits if you have sleep apnea problems. Your airways are significantly affected by smoking and drinking. Alcohol relaxes your airways, and tobacco causes it to swell. If you must continue with these habits, avoid doing them before bed.
Sleep Apnea Symptoms
To relive sleep apnea symptoms, play a wind instrument such as the flute or clarinet. Researchers in Germany have found playing a didgeridoo can make your throat muscles stronger. These are the muscles that control airway dilatation and airway wall rigidity. Because of these movements, if you play this instrument regularly, you can control your sleep apnea symptoms and get a better night’s rest.
If you’ve got a prescription for a CPAP for your sleep apnea, try using it for around four hours each night. Some find that it can be uncomfortable to use at first, but the point is to use it and ward off trouble. However, you must use your CPAP a minimum of four hours for it to be effective. If you find it hard to get used to your CPAP, use it for only 4 hours at a go.
A good physical exam, and a look at your family history, can quite often easily determine sleep apnea’s presence. Also, your doctor may want to try a sleep study on you. Depending on the results, you may be referred to a specialist.
Avoid sleeping pills if you’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea. They can relax your throat muscles, making it hard to get enough air when you sleep. If you suffer from sleep apnea, the pills could cause disastrous consequences. This is not the solution for getting some sleep.
Sleep Apnea
To help diagnose your sleep apnea, your doctor may ask you to keep a sleep log. You will record when you sleep and when you awaken and anything else that happens during your sleeping hours. Your partner can best inform you if your sleep involves jerking limbs, stops in breathing and loud snoring. Your doctor can use this information to determine if you actually suffer from sleep apnea.
You can wear a chin strap with your CPAP if you have problems with your mouth falling open as you sleep. The chin strap will help hold you chin up during the time you are sleep which keeps your mouth closed. Your CPAP machine cannot function properly if your mouth hangs open. Using a chin strap may help.
Try using a nasal spray for an irritated nose. You will get relief from this for a little while. Nasal sprays with medications should not be used for many days in a row, however, because they can damage the nose. Check out all the different options while at your pharmacy.
Making the muscles in your throat much stronger is an excellent way to help the alleviate the sleep apnea. When the muscles at the back of your throat collapse, your breathing can be reduced. As your muscles strengthen, their possibility of collapsing and blocking your airways is lowered.
Start playing a woodwind instrument. Not only will you enjoy the music and exercise your mind, but you will also exercise the muscles that help you control your breathing. When these muscles get trained and stronger, your sleep apnea will start subsiding and maybe even go away entirely over time.
Laying on your back while sleeping can worsen your sleep apnea symptoms. Instead, try laying on your side. You can use something like pillows or blankets so that you will not want to sleep on your back. Doing this makes back sleeping uncomfortable.
Hopefully, this article has better prepared you to handle your sleep apnea. You should be ready to get some good healthy sleep using these tips. Keep in mind that it may take awhile to see improvements. Just keep doing what you are doing and you will notice positive changes soon.