Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which your breathing stops and starts again throughout the night. Sleep apnea significantly reduces the quality of the sleep you get, which leaves you feeling tired during the day.
People who snore loudly often suffer from sleep apnea. It’s worth getting checked for this disorder if your partner or your family notices you snore a lot. If it transpires that you do indeed have sleep apnea, the good news is it is treatable. There are a number of ways to deal with it. We've highlighted three potential solutions that can help you better deal with sleep disorders. They will ensure high-quality sleep every night that rejuvenates you for the day ahead.
Wearable Sleep Technology
The growth of technology has benefited pretty much every facet of people’s lives in some way. Even for sleep apnea, there’s now a technological solution. Fitbit, the company known for its health monitoring wristbands, has released a new Ionic smartwatch that can accurately identify sleep apnea.
One of the key challenges with sleep apnea is its initial diagnosis. You need to undergo an expensive sleep study, and you need to sleep overnight in a special sleep centre for a diagnosis. The diagnosis is challenging because many people have sleep apnea without realising it, so there are many patients who don’t even get to the sleep study stage.
A device such as the Fitbit smartwatch could dramatically improve both the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea. This can improve the quality of life for many people. If the Fitbit doesn’t end up being recognized as an official diagnostic tool, it will still help inform patients and doctors about potential sleep apnea. This will help doctors to identify patients who need an official diagnostic test in the form of a sleep study.
Adjustable Beds
Elevating the upper body is one of the best ways to deal with sleep apnea. Lying flat encourages collapsing of the airways, which is what happens during obstructive sleep apnea, the most common subtype of this disorder.
An adjustable bed provides the support sleep apnea patients need to remain in an upright position at night. Adjustable electric beds are electric beds that you can profile to a number of different positions.
Our adjustable beds use a 5 point moving system which allows you to move the upper half and lower half of the bed independently of each other, with the touch of a button. Such control over the sleeping position provides a great way for sleep apnea patients to alleviate the symptoms of their disorder, limit snoring, and ensure better quality sleep.
An adjustable electric bed can complement other sleep apnea treatments such as CPAP machines, which are used as at-home treatments for this sleep disorder. Some patients might find that an adjustable bed solves most of their apnea issues, but any potential discontinuation of other sleep apnea treatments should always be discussed with your doctor.
Surgery
Surgery is a last resort treatment for particularly severe cases of sleep apnea that prove difficult to treat. A number of potential surgical solutions exist for treatment.
You might get tissue removed from the back of your throat, including your tonsils and adenoids. The removal of these tissues reduces the chances of your airways blocking due to collapse of throat structures while lying in bed.
Another potential solution is the relatively new development of an implantable device which stimulates the hypoglossal nerve, the nerve that controls the tongue. The device is implanted in the upper chest using a relatively simple surgical procedure. An important cause of sleep apnea is the tongue collapsing to the back of the throat while sleeping, blocking the airways temporarily. This device stimulates the hypoglossal nerve as you sleep, preventing the tongue from collapsing into the airways.
Jaw surgery is another way to treat sleep apnea that doesn’t respond to conventional therapeutic solutions. The surgery moves the upper and lower parts of your jaw forward from the rest of your facial bones. This gives space behind the tongue and soft palate. The increased space makes the attacks less likely.
Key Takeaway
Sleep apnea is extremely common and treatable sleep disorder. Many people go through significant portions of their lives suffering from it without even realizing. Modern technology has paved the way for easier diagnosis. Data from new devices such as the Fitbit ionic smartwatch can help alert patients and doctors to probable sleep apnea.
Once diagnosed, you can avail of several effective treatment options. An adjustable bed is arguably one of the most user-friendly solutions. It can alleviate the symptoms without requiring you to wear an uncomfortable CPAP mask.
If both CPAP masks and adjustable beds don’t provide relief, you can undergo surgery, with a number of different procedures available.
Contact the Adjustable Beds team on 062 46900 to learn more about how our beds can improve your sleep apnea symptoms. We've helped thousands of people achieve better sleep health over our 30 plus years specialising in adjustable beds.