When you have a bad cold, getting deep, restful sleep can be difficult—temporarily. Eventually, your body fights back naturally and you get back to normal. So, when you regularly wake up in the middle of the night gasping or feel tired day after day for months, you wonder if this problem, which could be sleep apnea, is just a passing issue.
In other words, you need to know: does sleep apnea just go away on its own? No, it will continue to disrupt your rest and harm your health unless you do something about it. Fortunately, solutions and treatments exist that can help you overcome this condition.
What Lifestyle Adjustments Can Help with Sleep Apnea Symptoms?
Being overweight increases your risk of sleep apnea because the excess tissue can relax during the night and obstruct airflow. As a result, if you lose weight, you may reduce this obstruction, breathe more easily, and get more restful sleep on a consistent basis.
Research shows that refraining from drinking alcohol, particularly in the hours leading up to bedtime, may also help keep facial tissues from blocking the airway. For some sufferers, sleeping on their back raises the number of sleep apnea episodes per night, which theoretically means they may experience better sleep if they sleep on their side.
What Treatment(s) Can Address Sleep Apnea?
Although some patients benefit from making these lifestyle changes, not everyone does. A patient may not be overweight or have other risk factors and still have this condition. If your sleep apnea results from a deviated septum, large adenoids or tonsils, or other anatomical causes, professional treatment is essential.
One treatment option is CPAP therapy, which involves the patient wearing a facial mask that delivers a constant stream of air. The machine forces air into the body and can be effective for even the most severe of cases, although often cumbersome and uncomfortable.
For many patients, a better alternative to CPAP is oral appliance therapy. This small plastic “mouthguard” repositions the lower jaw and neck tissues forward, which opens the airway. With this treatment, there’s no bulky, loud machine or uncomfortable mask. In other cases, a combination of these therapies becomes necessary to manage symptoms and breathe better during sleep.
Although sleep apnea doesn’t just work its way out of your system or resolve itself, you can do something about it, and there are highly trained professionals who can help you regain the rest you need and have happier, more energetic days.
About the Author
As a Diplomate of the American Board of Dental Sleep Medicine and the American Sleep and Breathing Academy, Dr. Jeff Rodgers has decades of advanced training and clinical expertise under his belt. At Sleep Better Georgia, he has been practicing for more than 20 years and focuses on changing lives for the better through improving sleep quality. If you would like to schedule an appointment at his Dunwoody office, call 404-252-1221 or visit the practice’s Contact Us page here.