Sleep Apnea Mouth Guard

Sleep apnea is a suffering which often goes undetected. It can be irritating and damaging. People focus on the symptom and forget the root cause. For sleeplessness, they try sleeping pills. For headache, they take the drugs available over the counter. It often becomes too late when you go for sleep apnea treatment. It is important to identify and treat this condition as the after effects may be fatal over a period of time.

Main types of sleep apnea

• Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition where the soft tissue at the back of the mouth blocks the air path.
• Central sleep apnea is a condition where the central nervous system fails to send the signal to the muscles to carry out the normal breathing process for a few seconds.
• Complex sleep apnea is a combination of Obstructive and Central sleep apnea.

After effects

Sleep apnea may result in several physical and psychological problems. The symptoms in the initial stage include:

•  Sleeplessness
• Headache in the morning
• Body ache
• Tiredness
• Snoring
• Sleeping trend during daytime

At a later stage, it may develop into serious complications which can include:

• Chronic Insomnia
• Restlessness
• Lack of concentration
• Feeling out of breath
• Depression

If sleep apnea is not detected and treated, these symptoms continue to become severe. This may hamper day to day activity. The performance of a person may dip considerably for all his day to day activities. In case of a child, the scores in the evaluation tests in schools would decrease. The child would not be able to perform in sports or other activities. Depression may set in and he may turn out to be an introvert.

For an adult, his relationship with his partner will suffer due to his abnormal sleeping habits. He would not be able to cope up with the fast paced competitive world. He will lose out on opportunities due to lack of concentration and restlessness. Acute condition may even lead to weight gain and high blood pressure. These symptoms are fatal.

Symptoms

The identification of the symptoms for sleep apnea is extremely critical. Large section of the society has tendency to pop up a readily available pill in case of headache, tiredness or lack of sleep. Temporary relief measures may lead to complications at a later stage. It is difficult to identify the symptoms in a child. You may observe the following conditions:

• The child is hyper active
• Child does not pay attention
• The child remains irritated and behaves rudely
• The child breaths through the mouth

An adult should look for the following indicators:

• Typical indications of headache, tiredness, dry mouth or sore throat when you wake up in the morning
• Insomnia
• Frequent tend of passing urine during night
• Lack of concentration, irritation or depression.

As soon as you observe these symptoms, you should consult a physician and go for the desired sleep apnea treatment.

Sleep apnea treatment

The treatment of sleep apnea is done by a physician who specializes in sleep disorder. The first step is to undergo the necessary tests. This may include monitoring the sleeping pattern using necessary devices. The next and most important step is to switch to a healthy lifestyle by following the below mentioned tips:

• Lose weight and maintain a perfect BMI
• Stop smoking if you are a smoker
• Reduce alcohol intake to minimal

You should avoid sleeping on your back. Also, you can lift the head while you sleep. The nasal passage may be cleaned with the help of saline spray. Doctors also advice a set of exercise for the tongue and throat which helps to control the blocking of air flow.

Sleep apnea mouth guards

There are some very effective mechanical devices which fit in your mouth and restrict the soft tissue to a position from where it cannot block the air passage. These devices may be in form of a mask or a sleep apnea mouth guard and are often termed as mandibular advancement splint. The device simply positions the lower jaw slightly forward. As a result, the possibility of the passage getting blocked is reduced to a minimal. This is effective in case of obstructive sleep apnea. Since there is no medication involved, the treatment is absolutely harmless. Results are visible from the very first day. The modern designs are easy to fit and a patient can get used to it in a short time. This is probably the easiest option for obstructive sleep apnea treatment.

Surgery and medication

The doctor may prescribe medication especially for complex or central sleep apnea treatment. Surgery is needed in case of conditions where all other sleep apnea treatment options have failed to provide result. Surgeon may remove tonsil and try to increase the air path. These operations would require thorough analysis and you may need to stay in the hospital.

One should observe the symptoms of sleep apnea disorder carefully. Changes in lifestyle and a simple mouth guard may resolve the problem in most of the cases. Delay in treatment may lead to critical conditions.