14
Mar
What is Sleep Apnea, and How Is It Treated?
If you’re unfamiliar with sleep apnea or its symptoms, you may suffer from it without knowing about it. Loud snoring, frequent nighttime awakenings due to shortness of breath, and feeling drowsy or exhausted during the day are all signs of sleep apnea. Fortunately, there are solutions to sleep apnea to improve the quality of your sleep. You can learn more about sleep apnea symptoms and treatment from Drs. Chad Bodily and Ty Bodily, your sleep apnea dentist from Seasons Dental in Burley, Idaho. In this post, we answer your questions about sleep apnea to give you a better understanding of this condition.
What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by impaired breathing while you sleep. This causes you to wake repeatedly throughout the night, gasping for breath. After waking, breathing resumes so quickly that you fall back to sleep without realizing what’s happening. Because you never enter deep sleep, you don’t get the quality rest you need. The next day, you feel the after-effects of sleep deficiency: poor concentration, lack of focus, and daytime drowsiness.
What are the different types of sleep apnea?
Most people with this condition suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which occurs when soft tissues in your throat collapse while you sleep, obstructing your airways to make it hard to breathe. Central sleep apnea (CSA) is less common and occurs when your brain fails to signal your muscles to breathe, causing lapses in breathing during the night. Complex sleep apnea is a mixture of the two.
What are some signs that I may have sleep apnea?
The following are some common sleep apnea symptoms:
- Insomnia or difficulty entering into deep sleep.
- Loud snoring or snorting as you sleep.
- Frequent waking with shortness of breath.
- Morning headaches.
- Daytime drowsiness.
- Inability to focus or concentrate on daily tasks.
Our dentists can diagnose this condition through a comprehensive evaluation and recommend treatment to relieve sleep apnea.
Is sleep apnea dangerous?
Sleep apnea poses a risk to general health. Over time, it can lead to problems with hypertension, heart disease, stroke, fatigue, depression, and other health issues. Lack of quality sleep can impact work, academic studies, and family care. Sleep apnea can lower your quality of life as it makes it difficult to drive, operate machinery, or focus on daily tasks.
How is sleep apnea treated?
For some people, simple solutions like weight loss, quitting smoking, and sleeping on your side can help minimize OSA symptoms and improve the quality of their sleep. Drs. Chad Bodily and Ty Bodily can also customize a dental appliance for snoring for your use. This appliance repositions your jaw while you sleep to keep throat tissues from blocking your airways and obstructing your breathing. Unobstructed airways allow you to breathe freely to get a good night’s sleep.
Where can I go to receive sleep apnea relief?
For help with sleep apnea treatment in Burley, ID, you can contact Drs. Chad Bodily or Ty Bodily from Seasons Dental at (208) 430-9555.