It may be spooky season, but for most people, it’s not ghosts and ghouls that are keeping them from getting a good night’s sleep. It’s sleep apnea — a frightening condition that can cause serious adverse health effects but goes undiagnosed in the majority of cases. If you or your partner is having trouble staying asleep, don’t be afraid. Keep reading to learn how we can help!
Things that go bump in the night might have kept you awake as a child, but as an adult, the likely cause of your sleeplessness is a condition called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). You may have OSA if you:
Patients with OSA wake several times at night — several times an hour in some cases — because their airway becomes obstructed while they sleep. A blocked airway means you can’t breathe properly, and your blood is unable to carry sufficient oxygen to your vital organs, including your brain. Sensing this, your brain will wake you up just long enough to resume normal breathing. However, once you’ve gone back to sleep and the tissues in your throat relax again, the airway becomes obstructed, you stop breathing, and your brain wakes you up, and the cycle repeats until you wake up for good. The scariest thing about OSA is that you may be waking up 10, 50, or even 100 times a night and not even know it!
Every part of your body needs oxygen to function properly. It goes without saying that frequent breathing disruptions put significant stress on your entire system and can profoundly impact your health. Not only that, but your brain and body need periodic rest to recharge. Without proper rest, it is impossible to summon the energy and strength you need to perform basic daily activities. Your cognitive function also declines without sufficient rest, which increases your risk for mistakes at work, errors in judgment, and accidents on the road and at home.
If you suspect you have OSA or your partner does, we can help. At our office, we provide various treatments to help patients overcome their sleep apnea, such as an oral appliance you wear at night to keep your airway open and laser therapy to shrink loose tissues in the throat that cause snoring and airway obstruction. After a consultation and examination to assess the severity of your condition, we can create a customized sleep apnea treatment plan to get you sleeping soundly every night.
Call our office located in Brentwood, TN to set up an appointment and learn more about how we can treat your sleep apnea.
