There are some people who wake up in the morning with a headache or are still feeling very drowsy. They end up feeling like they did not get a full night’s sleep even though from what they remember, they did. These people will often find themselves drowsing off at the most inopportune times and will sometimes wake themselves up in the night from their own snoring. In other cases, they may find that they are awakened in the night feeling out of breath when there was not a scary dream or anything else to have prompted the breathlessness. When these are the symptoms that the person is having, it is important to go to the doctor to have them checked out. Sleep apnea disorder is not something to ignore since it can escalate in severity. In addition, the brain and other organs are being deprived of oxygen in the night due to the lack of breathing for periods of time, sometimes up to thirty occurrences per hour.
Diagnosis
When people come into the doctor with the symptoms mentioned above, the doctor will usually do a physical to see if there might be any other causes of those symptoms. If there is not anything else wrong, then the doctor will prescribe some tests that will monitor what is going on with the person during the night in regards to the heart, lungs, movement, and oxygen levels. In this way, the doctor can determine what type of sleep apnea disorder the people have and what the apnea treatment needs to be, since it varies depending on the type.
When it is obstructive sleep apnea disorder, there are different options that are available in treatment. There are machines that are used to keep the air pressure a little higher than normal which seems to keep the airway open. There are also some devices that can be used to reposition the jaw so that the airway stays open. There are surgical options in which some excess flesh is removed to keep the airway more clear in the night, and there are also some pillows that are used in milder cases to help keep the people from sleeping on their backs, which is when the airway is more likely to close up. Often the people will need to consult with an ear, nose and throat specialist to see what option in treatment might be right for their sleep apnea disorder.