Solutions for Sleep Apnea Treatment

Sleep apnea is a condition that causes your breath to stop several times during the night, with the effects lasting up to a minute at a time. Symptoms typically include abrupt awakenings with breathlessness, loud snoring, morning headaches, dry mouth and drowsiness. For anyone experiencing these symptoms, it’s important to look for sleep apnea treatment. There are a number of treatment centers in Cashiers with reputable doctors and physicians providing emergency services to patients living with sleep apnea. There are various kinds of sleep apnea – obstructive, mixed and central. The treatments vary, depending on the severity of the case and the personal medical history of the individual. The most common options for sleep apnea treatment include:

• Physical interventions
• Lifestyle changes
• Surgery
• Prescription medicines
• Oral devices
• Breathing machines

No one treatment for sleep apnea works for everyone, though there are adjustments everyone can make to help see results. Patient typically start treatment with simple lifestyle changes like avoiding alcohol, limiting their medications like muscle relaxants and sedatives, losing weight and quitting smoking. One of the most common forms of treatment is the use of a special pillow or device that prevents patients from sleeping on their backs.

Patients may sometimes see results from wearing an oral device that opens their airway during sleep. An example of this is a MAS, or mandibular advancement splint. This device is similar to a mouth guard, and keeps the lower jaw held downwards and forward to keep the tongue away from the back of the airway. Surgery is an invasive option, and there are a variety of procedures that can be performed. Surgery typically works to eliminate and tighten the tissue, expanding the airway. However, surgeries for sleep apnea treatment in Cashiers NC are not always successful.

Another possible remedy is prescription medications, which typically includes different types of stimulants. These are helpful in curing sleep apnea to a certain extent, although they can produce side effects like insomnia and palpitations. If other treatments fail, a doctor can prescribe stimulants to help stop the daytime sleepiness of the patient. Prescription medications, however, are ineffective for complete sleep apnea treatment. Continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP can be most helpful. In this process, the patient is required to wear a mask on the nose during sleep to control air intake and relax the muscles. The amount of pressure is defined by the physician.