Stop Snoring Now!

Detecting the sleep apnea symptoms can prove to be difficult, for the symptoms occur while the individual is asleep. The condition can develop into severe complications, which is why determining the symptoms are crucial.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

        While Sleeping

-         Extremely loud snoring

-         Silence due to pauses in breathing

-         Gasping

-         Choking

-         Profuse sweating

-         Waking to reset breathing

        While Awake

-         Depression

-         Heartburn

-         Mood swings

-         Dry mouth upon waking

-         Memory lapses

-         Migraines

Complications

This condition can develop into an assortment of complications. These complications may prove to be fatal.

These complications include:

1.   

Hypertension

-         50% of people who have sleep apnea develop hypertension

-         Hypertension or high blood pressure raises the risks of heart failure

2.   

Congestive Heart Failure

-         Sleep apnea deprives the blood of oxygen

-         Increases the risk of congestive heart failure

3.   

Chronic Fatigue

-         Sleep apnea deprives the body of sleep and fatigue kicks in

-         Under fatigue people are less efficient, and are prone to accidents.

Commonly Used Sleep Apnea Treatment

There are a number of treatments available for treating sleep apnea. These treatments keep the airways open, avoiding the symptoms from occurring.

These treatments include:

1.   

CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure)

-         A device that pumps air into the airway

-         Keeps the muscles in the airway from over relaxing

2.   

Dental Devices

-         Keeps the tongue from blocking the airway

3.   

Surgery

-         When all else fails, surgery to the throat, jaw, and nasal cavity are required to correct the obstruction.

Alternative Treatment

Popular treatments can prove to be costly, requires surgery, and has negative side effects to the body. This is why alternative treatments are gaining popularity.

These alternatives include:

1.   

Singing therapy

-         Involves a lot of practice to strengthen the airway muscles

2.   

Didgeridoo therapy

-         Involves blowing on the wind instrument to strengthen the airway muscles.

-         Does not require practice to perfect.

3.   

Sleep Apnea Pillow

-         Specially designed pillow that stops the symptoms

-         Promotes the ultimate sleeping comfort.

-         Useable in almost all sleeping positions.

For whatever sleep apnea treatment is chosen, the main goal is to avoid the risks to health the condition may lead to. It is important to consult with your doctor, and get to know the treatment that’s best for you.

Sleep Apnea is a sleep disorder in which patient stops breathing during sleep. In this disorder, patient’s brain alerts him/her to resume the breathing process. And it ultimately results in severe snoring making loud snorts and gasping noises irritating to ears.

People suffering from this problem do not enjoy a sound sleep and thus experience many ailments related to the sleeping disorders such as lack of concentration, fatigue, week immune system, and weight gain. Also, due to lack of sleep, they tend to fall asleep while driving, listening to their employers, or spouses, or at meetings.

This disorder can be caused by smoking and alcohol use, excessive weight, and having a large neck. Among these factors, family history of this disorder also contributes to the factors. As such, there are three types of Sleep Apnea that are ( obstructive ) ( central ) and ( mixed )

We shall discuss here all three types one by one. OSA is an acronym of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. It is one of the most common forms of . While you are asleep, the soft tissues in the back of the throat can collapse due to one or the other reasons. In this type of , you experience a stop in breathing process several times, often for a minute or longer. Central Sleep Apnea is a type in which brain stops alerting and messaging the muscles to breath. In this case brain is the main culprit. Then it is Mixed Sleep Apnea. As the name itself suggests, it is a combination of the other two above mentioned conditions/types. In this condition, your brain fails to remind your muscles to breathe by the fully or partially blockage of air passage.

If you have mild disorder, memory foam mattress significantly diminishes the chances. The memory foam mattress is a revolutionary mattress that helps you to sleep better at night. Apart from the memory foam mattress treatment, sleep apnea can also be treated by the changes in lifestyle, Surgery, medications, a mouthpiece, and a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).To wrap up, this perticular sleep disorder if left untreated can create nuisance and an embarrassing situation to the person who is suffering from this disorder.

The pillar procedure can be an alternative solution to major surgery for patients suffering from sleep apnea. At Coastal Ear, Nose and Throat, our physicians specialize in this and other sleep apnea solutions. Please visit our website www.coastalhearing.com for additional information. … “sleep apnea” snoring fatigue tonsils pillar “pillar procedure” insomnia “mary mitskavich”

Sleep apnea is a common disorder that is characterized by very shallow breathing while sleeping. The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea.

When sleep is upset throughout the night the next day can be one of fatigue and sleepiness. A person with sleep apnea does not get restful sleep because:

•Brief episodes of increased airway resistance and breathing pauses occur many times throughout the night
•You may experience many brief drops in the oxygen levels in your blood
•Poor sleep quality occurs because you move out of deep sleep and into light sleep several times during the night.
Loud snoring is often a characteristic common to people who have sleep apnea. Not everyone who snores has sleep apnea and there are people with sleep apnea that do not know they snore.

Sleep apnea happen more often in people who are overweight, however thin people can also have the condition. The majority of people with sleep apnea do not know they have it, and they do not know they are having problems breathing while they are asleep. A family member and/or bed partner may notice the signs of sleep apnea first.

An increase in the chance of having blood pressure which can lead to heart attack or stroke is one of the consequences of untreated sleep apnea. Sleep apnea left untreated can also increase the risk of diabetes and the risk for work-related accidents and driving accidents.

There is an estimation of over 12 million American who have obstructive sleep apnea. More than half of these people are overweight and most of them “snore” heavily. Sleep apnea is more common in men, and is more common in African Americans, Hispanics, and Pacific Islanders than in Caucasians. It tends to run in families as well. It can also occur in children. If your child snores, you should discuss it with your doctor or health care provider.

Common signs and symptoms of sleep apnea include:

•Loud snoring
•Choking or gasping during sleep
•Fighting sleepiness during the day (even at work or while driving)
•Morning headaches
•Memory or learning problems
•Feeling irritable
•Not being able to concentrate on your work
•Mood swings or personality changes
•Feelings of depression
•Dry throat upon awakening
•Frequent urination at night

Treatment of sleep apnea:

The goal of treatment is to restore regular nighttime breathing and relieve symptoms such as very loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. Appropriate treatment will also help the associated problems of high blood pressure and reduce risk for heart attack and stroke.

Tips of self-help for sleep apnea include:

•Avoid alcohol, smoking and or medicines that can make you sleepy.
•Lose weight if you are overweight
•Try sleeping on your side instead of your back.

One of the most common treatments for sleep apnea is continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). This treatment is wearing a mask over your nose during sleep.

If you snore, treating sleep apnea may help stop snoring, however, this does not mean you no longer have sleep apnea or that you should stop using CPAP. If CPAP is stopped or not used correctly, sleep apnea will return.
Possible side effects of CPAP include:

•Dry or stuffy nose
•Irritation of the skin on your face
•Bloating of your stomach
•Sore eyes
•Headaches

For people who have side effects working with sleep medicine specialists and technicians can help reduce the side effects. Some things that can be done include:

•Use a nasal spray to relieve a dry, stuffy, or runny nose
•Adjust the CPAP settings
•Adjust the size/fit of the mask
•Add moisture to the air as it flows through the mask
•Use a CPAP machine that can automatically adjust the amount of air pressure to the level that is required to keep the airway open
•Use a CPAP machine that will start with low air pressure and slowly increase the air pressure as you fall asleep.

People with severe sleep apnea symptoms usually feel better once they begin treatment with CPAP. It is important to follow-up with your doctor and to discuss any side effects with your doctor.

Other sleep apnea treatments include:

•Mouthpiece (oral appliance) for people with mild sleep apnea
•Surgery: The type of surgery depends upon the cause of the sleep apnea.

Types of surgery include:

•Surgery to remove tonsils and adenoids if they block the airway, this is especially helpful for children
•Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty
•Laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty
•Tracheostomy
•Rebuilding the lower jaw
•Surgery on the nose
•Surgery to treat obesity.

Source: The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Disclaimer: *This article is not meant to diagnose, treat or cure any kind of a health problem. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Always consult with your health care provider about any kind of a health problem and especially before beginning any kind of an exercise routine.

This article is FREE to publish with the resource box. Article written 4-2007.

Are you sick of being labeled a lumberjack in the morning? Is “sawing logs” during the night causing you grief? Well, if you’re like me and have a problem with snoring, read on for some tips to help you out.

To make the most of your efforts to stop snoring , it’s helpful to understand what exactly causes you to snore.  Simply put, snoring is a result of the narrowing of your air passages. When the air passage is constricted, the soft, floppy tissue in your throat vibrates and creates the snoring sound.  The narrowing of the air passage can be accredited to several different reasons, but the two that are most frequently associated with snoring are poor sleep posture and abnormalities of the soft tissues in your throat[1].

Abnormalities, you say?  Well, yes– but don’t worry.  I promise you’re not weird or anything, and you’re certainly not alone. Chances are that if you’re a middle aged man, these irregularities will apply to you. Men naturally have narrower air passages than women, and that explains why it’s mostly men who are condemned to the couch at night. Another reason for such irregularities can be attributed to heredity: if your mom or dad snored, chances are they passed it along to you.  Other factors that can cause your throat to relax more and create that unpleasant snoring sound include smoking, a history of asthma or allergies, alcohol, certain medications, and just being middle aged.

Now that we’ve pinpointed some of the reasons you snore, let’s take a look at what you can do to stop the problem. The first step is to make some small changes to your bedtime routine, and the following are a few tips to help keep the sawmill quiet when you get between the covers:

Sleep on your side – If you snore while laying on your back, turn on your side. If you can’t seem to help lying on your back, try the tennis ball trick: simply sew a tennis ball on the back of your sleep shirt. The ball will create an uncomfortable feeling when you start to roll onto your back that will help keep you on your side.

Elevate your head– Elevating your head will help you breathe easier. To do this, you could either sleep on a thicker, firmer pillow, or even try raising the head of your entire bed some four to five inches, and thereby sleep without a pillow.

Avoid eating before bedtime– This is recommended because certain foods and beverages can increase mucus in your air passages.  Specifically, you should avoid high-fat, milky products [or even soy milk products, for that matter].

Avoid alcohol and certain medications before bedtime– These items can increase relaxation of both the throat muscles and the tongue, which will narrow your air passages and restrict breathing.

Lose weight– One of the most effective ways to end snoring is by simply losing weight, even a little bit. The reason: your throat contains fatty tissues too, and the fewer you have, the more open your air passage becomes.

Clear your nasal passages– That “stuffed-up” sensation means that inhalation is being blocked.  Such a blockage of the air passages though the nose will create a one-way vacuum through your mouth and consequently increase snoring.  Be sure to blow your nose and apply a nasal strip before you go to sleep.

Stop smoking– This is probably the most obvious tip to end snoring because just about everyone knows that smoking is one of the unhealthiest things you can do. If you cannot give up smoking, however, try to not smoke at least before you go to bed, as it will increase relaxation of the throat muscles and significantly restrict your breathing.

Purchase a memory foam mattress –  Memory foam is known to enhance blood circulation that will nourish your lungs, and thereby improve your breathing.  This particular type of mattress also helps sleepers avoid having to shift positions [which can help you remain on your side at night instead of lying on your back2].

If your snoring persists in spite of taking these steps, you may need to seek professional medical help.  Observation by a either a dentist or an ear, nose, and throat specialist may reveal specific problems that are beyond your own control, and in these instances, you may be prescribed the use of particular devices such as a CPAP [Continuous Positive Airway Pressure] machine, or a mouthpiece which will keep your air passages open throughout the night. Some extreme cases may even require surgery.

Whether you’re a mild snorer or someone at risk of having a chronic snoring disorder that requires medical attention, one thing is certain: you need to monitor the problem and get some help if your own efforts to control it don’t work.  Snoring, believe it or not, can be both an indicator and a cause of serious health risks that can take a toll on your body.  A lack of air through those passages at night will create pressure on your heart, which is often linked to high-blood pressure.  Just a simple case of snoring is often not the problem, and sleep apnea may instead be the proper diagnosis.  This disorder occurs when the air passage is so constricted during the night that breathing completely stops, and the sufferer will often wake up for a second to gasp for the next breath– thus interrupting their REM cycle.  When REM sleep is interrupted, a fatigued feeling is prevalent throughout the next day.  In the worst cases, the sleeper may not wake up at all, and the problem can be fatal.

My best advice for all you lumberjacks out there: try to get some relief from the tips I’ve listed, but above all, don’t ignore the problem.  It could be more serious than you think.

cpap.apnea-treatment.com. Sleep apnea expert Dr. Jonathan Greenburg discusses new patent-pending treatment options that prevents upper airway from collapsing.

Sleep apnea is one of the commonest of all sleep disorders and affects approximately eighteen million people in the United States. A sleep disorder which is characterized by interrupted breathing during sleep, it is also unquestionably the most dangerous of sleep disorders because it starves the brain of essential oxygen and can sometimes prove to be fatal.

Could it be that snoring is caused by laughing at the dinner table while eating a bountiful of carbohydrates and sweets. Why is it that snoring occurs more commonly in men than in women? Is snoring just a common notion that occurs in men more often than in women or is there a practical explanation why snoring seen to happen to men more frequently rather than to women specifically?

The most common thing that people mention when talking about sleeping is snoring. Have you always had snoring issues ever since you could remember? Are you aware of the reasons why you snore? Are you aware of what causes you to snore? Has snoring become a bother to you now? Are you doing something about your snoring? Did you know that there is a cure for snoring? Do you want to have snore-free sleeps? Has it ever occurred to you that snoring can be a health problem? What is snoring actually to you? Do you ever ask yourself if snoring is really normal or not? Is your snoring beginning a bother to you and your partner when sleeping at night? Are you willing to take actions about your snoring soon? Snoring is a normal occurrence for men culturally.

WHAT IS SNORING? ————————————————— Scientifically speaking, snoring is a sound that is produced by our throat or the air pathways that vibrates when air flows through it and from it. When we breathe, we inhale air through our nose and mouth which flows down our air passageways which goes straight to our lungs. Snoring is also said to be a result of a person’s air pathways being larger than normal which makes the tissues more prone to vibrate as compared to those who have a normal sized air passageway. Snoring comes from the same passageways only it is louder than our normal breathing.

TYPES OF SNORING ————————————————— Snoring while the mouth is open shows a problem with the throat which is opposite of the type of snoring that commonly happens when you haven’t had much sleep for a few nights. The tongue inflicted snore may be is the main culprit of snoring sounds caused by the tongue. To snore at night may primarily be caused by heavy day time activities that has made the body tired during bedtime at night.

MOST COMMONLY KNOWN CAUSES OF SNORING ————————————————— A person who is under a medication, or is taking a regular prescribed medicine can affect the relaxation of the muscles much than it needs therefore the muscles around the throat and the air paths relaxes and then creates a snoring vibration during ones sleep. The male gender hormones tend to be more active and restless than the female’s estrogen hormones. Non smokers are not saved from snoring caused by smoking because second hand smoke is just as harmful as first hand smoke. A person who is inclined to sleep flat on their back makes the throat very relaxed and the back of the tongue tends to block their air pathways and creates the snoring sound. Snoring caused by male hormones is beyond your control a male has no power over his snoring.

CONTROLLED AND UNCONTROLLED FACTORS OF SNORING ————————————————— One of the basic factors that contributes and triggers snoring is the inflammation of the airways.

WHAT FOODS CAUSES US TO SNORE? ————————————————— There is no rush when monitoring the types of foods that you eat therefore you can easily do this slowly and you will eventually notice a big difference within. Another eating related tip is do your best not to over eat especially at dinner time. Processed foods are also foods that you should stay away from. Try more on the vegetarian menu if you are tying to prevent snoring.

TIPS ON HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT AND EATING HABITS TO AVOID SNORING ————————————————— Studies and surveys, have proven that most people who eat in front of their televisions tend to eat more than people who regularly eat at the dining tables. Cut your food into tiny pieces before eating them to avoid snoring. Cutting out the heavy dinners will help you to avoid snoring. Bite smaller pieces of food and chew the food very slow, like you are really savoring the dish will help prevent snoring.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE SNORING SEVERELY? ————————————————— Medicines can help prevent snoring as well, but be careful of what medicines you take, what you eat, and monitor your lifestyle activities that can affect you extremely. To determine if you have severe snoring, ask yourself if your snoring is VERY loud. If possible,every night just before going to bed, try to clear your nasal passages with nasal spray or salinase to ease stuffiness which will prevent you from snoring. When using a nasal spray before bedtime, it will clear out all the particles that are likely to block your nasal passageway and cause you to snore severely so nasal spray usage can prevent you from nightly snoring.