Did you know that 90% of people who snore have sleep apnea? Are you concerned about the snoring of yourself or a loved one? This shows how truly common this disorder is. It is defined as being one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep. The airway collapses or becomes blocked. It is a chronic condition but may be hard to know you have it, as you are asleep when the symptoms occur. These could include being tired during the day, waking up in the middle of the night, or poor sleep quality.
Obstructive sleep apnea can be caused by a few things, such as rapid weight gain, and can sometimes be cured by weight loss, but, it is a disorder which needs a long-term management so that you can live your best life. Let?s look at a few of the things you can do to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
To reduce the severity of obstructive sleep apnea, you may be able to do some of the following things to lessen the harshness of these effects.
- Weight Loss: If your sleep apnea has been caused by rapid weight gain, you may be able to reverse the symptoms by losing a bit of weight.
- Avoiding Alcohol: Alcohol can make your upper airway breathing muscles relax, so by avoiding this substance, you may be able to also avoid those sleep apnea symptoms.
- Quit Smoking: Smoking worsens swelling in the upper airway, so by stopping this habit, you will be able to let your airway go back to normal, potentially allowing for your sleep apnea symptoms to go away.
- Positive Airway Pressure Devices: These machines, such as the CPAP machine utilizes air pressure to prevent the airway from collapsing.
- Oral Appliances: Similar looking to a mouthguard, oral appliances hold the lower jaw forward just enough to keep the airway open.
At Paradise Dental, we want to make sure that all our clients are taken care of with the utmost of quality, and therefore, we offer all the services that we do, including our sleep solutions services. Contact us today for more information, or call us directly at 781-598-3700.
