Bedford Dental Group treats a variety of patients who suffer from sleep apnea of various severities. Sleep apnea is a quite common disorder in which you have pauses in your breathing (between one and several), or shallow breaths while you sleep. Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes at a time. Generally, your normal breathing will start again with a loud snort or choking sound.
Problems with Sleep Apnea
Sleep Apnea can affect your sleep. It’s a chronic (ongoing) condition. You’ll often move from deep sleep into light sleep as your breathing pauses or becomes shallow. Lack of sleep can cause a series of problems that can disrupt the functionality of your daily life. It can affect your driving ability or your performance in the workplace.
If your sleep apnea goes untreated, then it can increase your risk of high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, obesity, diabetes, and even heart failure.
Beyond the treatments that we can supply you at Bedford Dental Group to relieve your sleep apnea, we have some home remedies that we’d like to suggest in order to increase your well-being and reduce or further control your sleep apnea.
In some cases, self-care might be the most appropriate way to deal with mild forms of obstructive sleep apnea and some cases of central sleep apnea. Here are some measures you can take and lifestyle changes you make to improve your life in general, and to relieve your sleep apnea symptoms.
Lose Excess Weight
We know it can be tough, especially during the holidays, to stick to a well-balanced diet with very few cheat days and a rigorous exercise routine. But it’s for the best. The older you get, the more important it is for you to stay active, no matter what type of fitness foundation you are coming from. Excess weight can constrict your throat, causing you to have trouble breathing. Generally, if you lose your excess weight and stay physically active, you can force your sleep apnea into complete remission.
Exercise
Regular exercise at a set, scheduled time can help ease your symptoms of sleep apnea, even if you don’t experience weight loss. If you can manage to get 30 minutes of exercise in five days a week, that’s a pretty good start. Do as little as a brisk walk for a half hour daily to start experiencing benefits beyond measure.
Use Nasal Sprays
Keeping your nasal passages open at night is of paramount importance. Find a saline nasal spray that works for you and apply it nightly. You can talk to your doctor about using decongestants or antihistamines. Generally, these types of medications are only designed for SHORT TERM USE.
If You Smoke, Stop
We know how hard it can be to change your lifestyle. Quitting smoking can take some people an entire lifetime to achieve. A lot of people never manage to do it. But smoking particularly worsens your obstructive sleep apnea.
Take it Easy with Drinking, Too
Avoid certain medications such as tranquilizers, ironically enough. These actually relax the muscles in the back of your throat, interfering with your natural breathing.
Sleep On Your Side Instead of Your Back
When you sleep on your back, it can cause your tongue and soft palate to rest against the back of your throat, which ends up blocking your airways.
If your sleep apnea persists, we can help. Contact Bedford Dental Group today. We perform a wide variety of cosmetic and general dentistry procedures (which includes sleep disorders like sleep apnea).
