If you just discovered that you snore during your sleep, you may wonder if it’s a symptom of something more serious—sleep apnoea. Since three-quarters of excessive snorers do have this condition, it is a valid question.
Thanks to better research and publicity, sleep apnoea—and its serious complications—has come to the attention of the Australian public.
Certainly, it is worth a visit to your healthcare provider to find out. After all, if you do have the condition, it puts you at risk for strokes, heart problems, diabetes, high blood pressure, and accidents. Furthermore, it can make you fatigued during the day, affecting your mood at home and your productivity at work.
Sleep Apnoea or Snoring? How to Know.
Snoring occurs when your upper airway narrows during sleep when some of the tissues relax and drop down, partially blocking your air passage. As the air passes through the narrowed passage, it vibrates the loose tissues and causes the characteristic sounds of snoring.
With sleep apnoea, though, you stop breathing several times during the night. In severe cases, these episodes can be as frequent as 80 times per hour. If you sleep in the same room as your partner or a roommate, ask them if they notice any periods in which you stop breathing. If so, make an appointment with your healthcare provider for a sleep study as soon as possible.
If you don’t have anyone who can observe you as you sleep, it would still be in your best interest to learn if it is sleep apnoea that causes your snoring. You can still have sleep apnoea even if you don’t notice any pauses in your breathing as you sleep. That’s especially true if you often feel tired during the daytime. Daytime fatigue is one of the main indicators that your snoring may be due to sleep apnoea.
Other risk factors include smoking, sleeping on your back, or being overweight. If you have one of these risk factors, it pays to undergo a sleep study. That’s the only way you can know for sure if sleep apnoea is the cause of your snoring.
After Your Sleep Apnoea Diagnosis.
Once you receive a diagnosis of sleep apnoea, speak to your healthcare professional for the best way to overcome this health challenge. The good news? In most cases, sleep apnoea is easy to treat.
The effective, yet often uncomfortable CPAP.
If you have a severe case of sleep apnoea, your healthcare professional may recommend a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device. This machine creates gentle air pressure inside your throat as you sleep, preventing the tissues inside your throat from blocking your airway. CPAP devices use a face mask or a nose mask connected to the machine to deliver the air. Many patients, however, find these appliances extremely uncomfortable—and therefore will not wear them, despite the obvious health benefits.
There is, however, another solution.
Custom-made oral appliance delivers comfortable relief for most sleep apnoea patients
With all cases of sleep apnoea, especially if someone cannot use a CPAP machine, patients can experience complete relief with a simple dental appliance.
This Australian-made appliance fits right in your mouth. As you sleep, the appliance gently pushes your tongue and lower jaw forward to clear your airway. With this appliance, the relaxed tissues at the back of your throat cannot collapse into your airway—even when they’re completely loose during deep sleep.
It’s a game-changer for people all over the world who’ve used it. Unlike other oral appliances, it’s custom-made to the contours of your mouth, so it’s far more comfortable than intrusive CPAP devices or other oral devices.
Designed to fit the exact contours of your mouth using three-dimensional CAD/CAM design software, this appliance won’t rub or create irritation as do many oral devices. It uses cutting-edge technology and high-quality acrylic materials to provide the ultimate in comfort. In fact, you’ll be able to talk, to open and close your mouth and lips when you wear it.
After you receive your appliance, you will receive follow-up support throughout your treatment to make sure everything is working according to your treatment plan.
Furthermore, this appliance is the best available treatment for non-sleep apnoea-related snoring. If your partner or your household cannot sleep because of your loud snoring, it pays to check out whether this appliance may help bring better sleep for everyone at your home.
Lifestyle changes can help
Finally, in addition to your oral appliance, you may also benefit from lifestyle changes. If you need to reduce weight, reduce your consumption of alcohol, or change your sleep position, these steps can make a huge difference in people with sleep apnoea. Even if they do not completely resolve the condition, they can augment other treatments to bring you a good night’s sleep.
To discover whether a comfortable, custom-fit oral appliance from SleepWise Clinic could provide relief for your sleep apnoea or snoring, contact the caring team today or make a booking online for an appointment with one of our clinicians.