What is Sleep Apnea?
With Sleep Apnea, your breathing starts and stops repeatedly during sleep. This disorder often stops you from reaching the beneficial deeper stages of your sleep cycle.
If it isn’t properly treated, Sleep Apnea can lead to an increased risk of life-threatening conditions, like heart disease and stroke.
Sleep Apnea can affect both adults and children. Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the most prevalent type of Sleep Apnea and involves the temporary relaxation of your throat muscles, such as your soft palate and tongue. This temporary muscle relaxation narrows or closes your airway and inhibits breathing.
When you can’t get sufficient air supply, it can lower the amount of oxygen present in your blood. Your brain detects your breathing difficulty and abruptly wakes you from sleep, so you can open your airway.
What are the symptoms of Sleep Apnea?
If you have Sleep Apnea you might experience a range of symptoms, such as:
- Irritability
- Poor sleep quality
- Insomnia
- Dry mouth
- Sore throat
- Loud snoring
- Excessive fatigue
- Difficulty concentrating
- Morning headaches
- Waking with shortness of breath
Sleep interruption can occur anywhere from 5 to 30 times an hour or even more and you might not even remember the interruptions.
What causes Sleep Apnea?
There isn’t a definitive cause of Sleep Apnea, but there are a number of risk factors that might be involved, such as:
- Aging
- Obesity
- Smoking
- A narrowed airway
- Sedatives and alcohol
- Allergies and nasal congestion
Sleep Apnea is much more common in men. Call the office today to schedule your appointment.
