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Sleep Apnea - 7 Tips To Help You Sleep
By Donald Saunders
Do you keep your partner awake at night with your snoring? Are you often
tired during the day? Do you sometimes find yourself suffering from morning
headaches, being a bit forgetful, unable to concentrate and irritable? If so, you
may be suffering from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a very common and often undiagnosed sleep disorder that,
according to some estimates, affects five percent of the adult population.
Characterized in particular by loud snoring and daytime tiredness, sleep
apnea occurs because you stop breathing during sleep. This can occur
literally hundreds of times each night and your breathing can be interrupted by
up to a minute or more on each occasion.
Your breathing is interrupted either by a physical blockage to your airway (for
example, loose skin in the back of your throat, or perhaps your tongue,
blocking your airway), in which case you are said to suffer from obstructive
sleep apnea, or by a failure on the part of your brain to send out the necessary
signals to the muscles of your body that control breathing, in which event your
condition is described as central sleep apnea.
It is also possible to suffer from mixed sleep apnea which, as the name
suggests, is a combination of both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep
apnea.
Both men and women suffer from sleep apnea, although the condition is more
commonly seen in men and, in particular, men who are over 40 and
overweight.
The main consequence of sleep apnea is that, because your sleep is very
light, fragmented and of poor quality, you also suffer from insomnia, or
excessive daytime tiredness. Your partner would probably disagree and say
that the main problem is your snoring, but that¡¯s a different story!
There are a range of treatments available for sleep apnea (including surgery
in particularly severe cases), but in the vast majority of cases your quality of
life can be improved considerably with a few simple lifestyle changes and
natural remedies. Indeed, in mild cases, this is often all that is needed.
Here are 7 simple tips to offset the effects of sleep apnea related insomnia
and restore some of that lost daytime ¡®get up and go¡¯.
Tip 1. Look at your weight.
If you¡¯re overweight then this is undoubtedly contributing to your problem.
Losing just a few pounds can make a significant difference.
Tip 2. Avoid alcohol.
Alcohol relaxes your throat muscles and this makes it much easier for these
muscles to ¡®collapse¡¯ during sleep and block your airway. There¡¯s no need to
cut out alcohol altogether, but you should restrict your intake and certainly cut
out alcohol in the three or four hours before going to bed.
Tip 3. Avoid sleeping pills.
Sleeping pills can also relax your throat muscles and cause similar problems
to those seen for alcohol. Sleeping pills, however, can also cause a variety of
other problems as well and there use is not recommended in cases of sleep
apnea.
Tip 4. Avoid tobacco.
Smoking inflames your nasal tissues causing them to swell and restrict your
nasal airway. Ideally, you should give up smoking altogether but, if this is too
high a fence to jump, then try to cut down and, in particular, reduce your
smoking during the evening.
Tip 5. Sleep on your side.
If you¡¯re typical of the majority of sleep apnea sufferers you sleep on your
back, making it far easier for the tissues in your throat, and for your tongue, to
block your airway. Even if you go to sleep on your side, you probably roll onto
your back shortly after falling asleep.
Try propping yourself up with pillows or cushions so that you sleep on your
side. If this doesn¡¯t work then sew something like a tennis ball into the back of
your pajamas. You¡¯ll find that rolling onto the tennis ball will be quite
uncomfortable and it will soon condition you to sleep on your side.
If you can¡¯t sew, find a shirt or tee-shirt with a breast pocket. Pop the tennis
ball into the pocket and then wear the shirt back-to-front.
Tip 6. Improve your nasal breathing.
If you suffer from a ¡®stuffed up¡¯ nose, then try using a nasal spray to help open
up your nasal airway. Nasal sprays should not however be used regularly or
for prolonged periods, as they can cause damage to the tissues of the nose.
As an alternative, pop along to the drug store or chemist and buy yourself one
of many very cheap devices that are available today to help keep your nose
open while you sleep. Your pharmacist or chemist will be happy to show you
what¡¯s on offer and to help you to make the right choice.
Tip 7. Avoid sleep deprivation.
Make sure that you are getting enough sleep and that you¡¯re following a
regular bedtime routine. Also make sure that your bedroom conditions are set
for sleep (the right temperature, quiet, dark etc.) and that you¡¯ve dealt with the
worries of the day and are relaxed and ready for sleep each night.
One of the major consequences of both obstructive sleep apnea and central
sleep apnea is insomnia, and curing the insomnia associated with sleep
apnea is a major step in the management of the condition.
These are just a few simple tips but you¡¯ll be amazed at just what a difference
they can make.
About the Author
Donald Saunders is the author of a number of health related publications including:
"How To Get A Good Night's Sleep - Simple Solutions To Help You Rest"
Pick up your free copy today and discover the key to curing sleep-apnea
Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/author-articles/2406/1.html
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| Some other articles by Donald Saunders | |
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