This article will help anyone suffering from sleep apnea find relief. If you do not treat sleep apnea, you may suffer dire health consequences; however, proper treatment can get sleep apnea under control. The tips and ideas provided in the following article will help sleep apnea patients better understand and address their condition.
One thing that affects sleep apena is obesity. Anyone who is overweight and suffers from sleep apnea needs to lose weight for the sake of their health. Make sure that you stick with a plan that makes sense and combine a low calorie diet with an exercise regimen. Carbohydrate restriction has been shown to help people lose weight in recent studies as well.
Do you smoke or drink? Lose all your bad habits. Alcohol and tobacco both cause airway problems. Alcohol use will lead to over-relaxation of your airways, making sleep apnea symptoms worse, while smoking can have a similar effect by constricting them. If you cannot get rid of these habits for good, make an effort to avoid smoking or drinking before you go to bed.
Speak with your physician about getting a mouth piece that can help you breathe better. It may just be that your breathing passage is naturally narrow or your jaw is small. With a specialty device, you can change your sleeping position and align your jaw so that you are able to sleep.
Avoid alcohol before bed as much as possible. Alcohol causes your muscles to relax. People who are addicted to alcohol may learn that this is the cause of their apnea, and others who drink sporadically should know it affects them, too. Your throat muscles become relaxed, making it harder for your airway to stay open. If you do drink alcohol, avoid drinking it 3 hours before bedtime.
Sleeping Pills
Seek out something else rather than taking sleeping pills. Sleeping pills can cause just as many problems with your throat as alcohol consumption. They can also contribute to a large variety of things that are problematic to those who suffer from sleep apnea. Consult with your doctor about what you should take besides sleeping pills.
Attempt side sleeping. Many people with sleep apnea are used to sleeping on their backs. If you sleep flat on your back you are only exasperating your breathing problem by allowing your throat muscles to relax and move down. Breathing is much simpler when you sleep on one of your sides. If your sleep tends to see you rolling onto your back, support yourself with pillows on one side or the other.
Adding a chin strap to your CPAP routine can help to keep your mouth closed as you sleep. A chin strap is a strap on fabric that can hold your mouth closed. If you have your mouth open CPAP therapy isn’t going to work, so give this device a try to find out if it works.
Sleep Apnea
As you can see by now, sleep apnea can have detrimental affects on your health. If you have sleep apnea, you should realize that you need to gain more knowledge about why. Take what you’ve learned here to heart, and start to get a handle on your condition.