Get Treatment for Sleep Apnea, Sleep Better

Sleep apnea (or sleep disorder) will definitely affect sleep quality! If you have been diagnosed with it, your breathing will either be nearly completely or completely obstructed on an intermittent basis during the night. You will then briefly wake up to remove the obstruction, which will adversely impact your otherwise restful sleep.

Fortunately, you can seek medical treatment and adopt lifestyle remedies to improve your symptoms. You will then enjoy more restful sleep periods that will improve your health in more ways than one.

Get a Definitive Diagnosis

Your ENT doctor is the best person who can give a definitive diagnosis whether you have sleep apnea (sleep disorder) or not. If you have the symptoms, such as loud snoring, feeling of tiredness after a full night’s sleep, and intermittent starts-and-stops in breathing, then your case will fall into one of these types:

• Obstructive sleep apnea happens because the muscles in the throat relax
• Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain fails to send the appropriate signals to the muscles associated with breathing
• Complex sleep apnea is a combination of central sleep apnea and obstructive sleep apnea

You will likely be asked to maintain a sleep diary where details of your sleep patterns including your experience the morning after will be written. You may also undergo lab tests.

Get the Appropriate Treatment

Your ENT doctor will provide recommendations based on the type of sleep apnea you have been diagnosed with, as well as the severity of your symptoms, age, and physical condition. Your treatment plan will also change according to your response to the therapies, medications and lifestyle changes.

If you have mild sleep apnea, your ENT doctor will likely recommend lifestyle changes including quitting smoking, losing weight, and reducing stress. You may also have to treat your nasal allergies since these can worsen your symptoms.

But if you have moderate sleep apnea, you and your doctor will discuss several treatment methods. Each one has its pros and cons in terms of monetary costs and adjustment period, thus, the trial and error method used by most doctors.

A few of these methods include:

• Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a machine that pushes air pressure to the nose via a mask placed over the face. The air pressure delivered is slightly higher than the environmental air pressure, thus, ensuring that the upper airway passages stay open.

• Bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) delivers higher pressure during inhalation and lower pressure during exhalation.

• Expiratory positive airway pressure (EPAP) increases the pressure in the airways so these stay open.

• Oral appliances keep the throat open so snoring can be reduced.

Surgery may be necessary when all other treatments have failed, usually after a three-month period. In most cases, it isn’t necessary so you still have hope!

For more details of treatment of the sleep apnea (or sleep disorder), please contact  HK ENT specialist or your ENT doctor.

HK ENT Specialist

offering ENT services,

Sleep disordered breathing Management,

Hearing aids prescription,

Swallowing disorder assessment and treatment,

Head and Neck Oncology,

and Facial Plastic Surgery, etc.

https://www.hkentspecialist.hk