Sleep apnea, the sleeping disorder characterized by pauses in breathing, is a fairly studied condition. For one, a number of sleep apnea treatment procedures are already available. The most common of which is the use of CPAP and CPAP mask - in Toronto and elsewhere.
What is CPAP? It stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure - a kind of pressure ideal in keeping the muscles in your throat from collapsing. As you can recall, sleep apnea (specifically the Obtrusive kind) is caused by a certain blockage in the air path. This blockage results from the relaxation of your throat muscles while you sleep.
But some of you may not know that the CPAP machine is not the only sleep apnea treatment procedure. Yes, there are still other devices that you can use, especially when you cannot tolerate the discomfort of wearing a mask (Respironics masks in Toronto and elsewhere - for instance) while you sleep. Here are some of them:The Use of Dental Devices
Sleep apnea is largely about a structural malfunction. This means that some of the parts of your body are going awry - and are not working properly. Malfunctions and abnormalities in the neck, jaw, throat, tongue or face will give you greater chances of developing sleep apnea.
One of the less common sleep apnea treatment options is the use of a dental device. Your doctor may give you a Mandibular Advancement Device or a Tongue Retaining Device. The latter helps your breathing by keeping your tongue in place. The former, on the other hand, pushes your jaw forward and down. Both of these dental devices aim to keep the airway open while you sleep.Maxillary Expansion
This sleep apnea treatment method involves the application of a screw device to your upper teeth. This is especially helpful for patients with a narrow jaw - as the device reduces nasal pressure. This procedure, however, is non-surgical.Surgery
If your condition becomes severe, some throat specialists may recommend that you take surgery. This sleep apnea treatment procedure, medically termed as Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) involves the removal of some of your throat tissues.
Yes, that name looks very long and difficult to read but it actually stands for three names of tissues: the uvula, the soft palate, and the pharynx. The uvula is a soft flap hanging down at the back of the mouth. Sometimes, this sleep apnea treatment procedure also involves the removal of the tonsils.All these tissues are removed for the purpose of widening the airway - especially at the upper part, near the throat’s opening.
If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, make sure you properly discuss with your doctors your treatment procedures. Don’t immediately opt for a surgery. This procedure is invasive enough. The fact that this sleep apnea treatment procedure has a success rate of only 50% should keep you from “going under the knife.” There are many other options available, take them. They may be uncomfortable at first, but discomfort may become negligible over time. Sometimes, discomfort is the price that you have to pay for keeping you - and your throat - intact.
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If one of your family members suffers from sleep apnea, chances are that other family members suffer, too. After all, the loud-enough-to-wake-up-the-dead snores can truly disturb the living’s sleep, not to mention the rude awakenings that are nighttime choking and gasping spells!
Of course, these are but small annoyances in the general picture of sleep apnea. This sleep disorder can be deadly to your family member because of the great stress the heart goes through during episodes of apnea. In fact, some researchers describe it as the heart on a treadmill even when the body is at rest!
Fortunately, there are things that you can do as part of the sleep apnea treatment Toronto doctors, or anywhere else for that matter, will prescribe for the sufferer.Encourage Lifestyle Changes
Often, the positive environment that surrounds the sleep apnea treatment Toronto doctors will recommend comes primarily from family members like you. In this line, you have to fully support and encourage lifestyle changes with actions like:
Serving the proper diet of fruits and vegetables that will facilitate good weight management. You can even ask a dietitian-nutritionist for the food types that will help in weight loss required by the sleep apnea treatment. Toronto is home to many of these professionals so it should be an easy task.
Taking away temptations to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes as well as disposing of sleeping pills and sedatives around the house. You have to support encouraging words with actual actions.
Encouraging regular sleeping habits by adapting them, too.
Helping the sufferer follow the doctor’s recommendations especially when it comes to follow-up check-ups.
Of course, emotional support in all stages is a given. You can hasten relief of symptoms when you do not condemn the person but instead encourage him/her to seek medical help.Adjust to Sleep Masks and Machines
It is not just the sufferer who must make adjustments to the mask and/or machine that comes with medical sleep apnea treatment. Toronto boasts of many manufacturers of these breathing aids, which makes for many choices in sizes and designs.
You have to make sure that he/she wears the mask at night; otherwise, symptoms will appear almost at once after cessation of use. You can also help him/her articulate feelings like physical discomfitures and emotional hassles regarding the wearing of the device.Assist in Paperwork and Finances
The paperwork necessary with doctors’ visits and sleep studies, which often include insurance documents, can be very frustrating when tackled alone. Thus, it will be a big help to your family member if and when you can assist with this part of the sleep apnea treatment. Toronto, after all, has insurance laws that can be bewildering. Then again, so are the insurance laws in other places!
And then there is the issue of finances. It can be quite expensive undergoing a medical/surgical sleep apnea treatment, Toronto being one of the most expensive cities to live in Canada. As such, financial understanding can go a long way towards easing the emotional and physical burden of the sufferer.
Ultimately, all your sacrifices will be worth it when your beloved family member can get his/her good night’s sleep. And so will you!
According to statistics, there are more than 1.4 million Canadians who suffer from sleep apnea. If you are one of them, you will experience physically debilitating symptoms like excessive daytime sleepiness that can result in driving and work accidents, intermittent headaches morning till night, painful heartburn, leg swelling, chest pains when asleep, and most disturbing to your bedmate, unnaturally loud snoring, restless tossing in sleep, and nighttime choking episodes.
Fortunately, you can choose the best sleep apnea treatment, Toronto professionals gladly helping you in that aspect, which will suit your present condition.Lifestyle Treatments
Often, the first treatment option that your doctor will recommend is a series of interconnected lifestyle changes. Of course, you can start any place you are at present but for Torontonians, the city’s clean environment is conducive to these lifestyle changes.
You will be recommended to adapt the following healthy habits:
Practice weight management, even lose weight when necessary. Studies have found that losing weight to maintain an ideal height-to-weight ratio reduces episodes of apnea.
Maintain a regular sleeping time. You have to make it a clockwork habit because it helps your body adjust to normal sleeping patterns.
Sleep on your side. This is because sleeping flat on your back worsens heartburn, which is yet another symptom of sleep apnea.
Abstain from alcohol consumption and have your doctor check over your medicines that may cause worsening symptoms. The best sleep apnea treatment, Toronto doctors will agree, will have to be stopping your bedtime habit of taking sleeping pills and sedatives.
Stop smoking immediately. The chemicals present in cigarettes prevent the airways from opening properly and thus, will worsen sleep apnea.Medical Treatments
If this initial sleep apnea treatment Toronto doctors have recommended does not work, then the next step will be explored. You will be made to wear a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask during the night to prevent your breathing airways to close while you sleep.
The CPAP mask is a sleep apnea treatment Toronto physicians will prescribe for moderate and severe cases. You have to get used to wearing it because once you stop wearing this gadget, the symptoms come back almost at once.
You can also choose other breathing devices like oral breathing appliances that also open up your airways. The important thing is to get a recommendation from your doctor about the best possible device in your regimen of sleep apnea treatment, Toronto doctors being knowledgeable about them.Surgical Options
If lifestyle changes and medical measures still do not work as effectively as you would want in a sleep apnea treatment, Toronto doctors will have recourse for surgical operations. There are many but you need not worry because you will not be made to undergo every surgery in the books.
To name a few, there is uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (quite a mouthful to say), which remains one of the more common surgical treatments for sleep apnea; tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy (there it is again) to removes tonsils and adenoids; and other surgical procedures to removes bone tissue.
Ultimately, you should have relief from your sleep apnea and get on with normal life. All things considered, the treatment options are well worth the time, effort and money!