Sleep apnea can harm your health and your life, not just your quality of sleep. Therefore, it is vital that you educate yourself thoroughly about this sleep disorder, learning why you have it and how you can treat it. By continuing to the article below, you can begin the journey towards understanding your sleep apnea.
Give up some of your vices to combat the symptoms of sleep apnea. Two of the biggest problems are drinking and smoking. When you drink, your respiratory system is depressed and breathing becomes difficult. And when you smoke you inhale a bunch of carcinogens that can seriously damage your lungs. These are both habits which can make sleep apnea worse.
Do your best to sleep off your back and on your side. If you sleep on your back, this can make your sleep apnea worse. If you sleep on your back, you can cause your throat and mouth tissues to block the airways. Try to sleep on your side to avoid that. If you think you might roll over anyway, try a wedge pillow.
Do you regularly smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol? Eliminate bad habits. They can do bad things to your airways. Smoking swells up your airways while alcohol relaxes them. Both of these things can result in sleep apnea. If you are unable to walk away from these habits forever, at least avoid them prior to sleeping.
If sleep apnea is an issue for you, and you are a smoker or drinker of alcohol, consider quitting to help with your symptoms. Both of these bad habits make the airways relax too much, making sleep apnea worse. Quitting these habits may help you avoid costly and invasive surgery in the future.
It can be a very serious issue when you have sleep apnea. If you find you have some of the symptoms, talk to a physician as soon as you can. If you are diagnosed with the condition, your doctor may send you to a sleep specialist, as well as recommend a sleep test to monitor your condition.
Sleep apnea sufferers know how stressful having this condition is. Sleep apnea brings about discomfort, disrupted sleep and even danger. All around, sleep apnea sufferers lead pretty miserable lives, and so do the people who try to sleep with them. Use the information provided here to map out your own battle plan against sleep apnea.
