What is sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea occurs when your breathing starts and stops during your sleep. This disrupted breathing causes the oxygen levels in your blood to drop, straining your cardiovascular system and leading to potentially dangerous health problems like high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.
Types of sleep apnea include:
- Obstructive sleep apnea: occurs when throat muscles relax
- Central sleep apnea: muscles that control breathing don’t receive signals from the brain
- Complex sleep apnea: a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea
Several factors can cause sleep apnea, such as being overweight, having a narrowed airway, and nasal congestion due to anatomical problems or allergies. You’re also more likely to develop sleep apnea once you reach middle age.
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea?
Common symptoms of sleep apnea include:
- Loud snoring
- Daytime fatigue
- Morning headaches
- Lack of focus or irritability
- Sore or dry throat upon waking
Sleep apnea not only disrupts your own sleep, it can disturb those around you, causing loved ones to also become sleep deprived.
How do you treat obstructive sleep apnea?
At Hill Country Ear, Nose & Throat, Dr. Lano specializes in sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment. For mild cases, he recommends lifestyle changes like weight loss and smoking cessation. In moderate to severe cases, Dr. Lano might suggest a variety of treatments, including:
CPAP
CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines use a mask placed over your nose to supply air pressure while you sleep to keep your upper airway passages open.
BiPAP
Similar to a CPAP, a mask is worn while sleeping. A BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) uses continuous positive airway pressure to automatically adjust inhaling and exhaling pressure while you sleep.
Oral Appliances
These devices keep your throat open by adjusting your jaw placement into a forward position.
Surgery
Surgical procedures remove tissue or blockages that cause snoring or impede breathing.
How do you treat obstructive sleep apnea?
Central and complex sleep apnea requires a variety of approaches, including better managing existing medical conditions that include the heart or neuromuscular disorders.
Dr. Lano might also recommend supplemental oxygen, CPAP or BiPAP therapy, or adaptive servo-ventilation (ASV), which is a recently approved airflow device that records your normal breathing pattern and stores it in a computer. Once you fall asleep, ASV uses pressure to normalize your breathing pattern.
Call or schedule an appointment online today to learn more about sleep apnea treatments.
