If you have trouble sleeping, you understand just how losing crucial rest can affect you. Along with drowsiness during the day and difficulty focusing at work or school, losing sleep can also increase your risk of high blood pressure, depression, and other serious health complications. Fortunately, there are ways to identify the cause of your sleep issues and treat the issue, either with simple lifestyle changes or an oral appliance. Check out our five tips for sleeping better.
Snoring and Sleep Apnea
Snoring occurs when the soft tissues in the back of the throat collapse and partially block airflow. Air being forced through then vibrates the tissue, causing the snore. However, this can also be a warning sign of sleep apnea, or OSA. Sleep apnea develops when airflow is blocked completely and the patient stops breathing for brief periods. The patient then wakes up, often hundreds of times a night, to start breathing again. Patients are then exhausted during the day.
Tips for Better Sleep
There are actually steps you can take to obtain better rest, such as:
- Avoid caffeine or alcohol before bed
- Sleep on your side
- Lose weight
- Keep your bedroom dark and cool
- Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day
- Remove distractions from bedroom, such as TV or computers.
Some cases of OSA may require more than lifestyle changes to address.
Treatment Options
In order to treat the issue, we may suggest an oral appliance. Worn at night, the device repositions the tongue and moves the jaw forward slightly to open airways and allow the patient to breathe easy.
