Sleep Apnea Treatment Southlake

Snoring and sleep apnea worsens when you’re sleeping flat on your back. In this position, gravity is more likely to pull your airway closed. Consider switching to sleeping on your side or with your torso on a wedge pillow.

Alcohol relaxes your muscles, including those that support your airway. To reduce the risk that your airway will collapse while you sleep, don’t drink alcohol for at least three hours before going to bed.

Exercise helps tone the muscles that hold your airway open. Increase the activity you get daily to reduce the severity of your snoring or sleep apnea. Some people recommend specific airway exercises, but our limited evidence suggests that getting more exercise will generally help with snoring and sleep apnea.

In addition, losing weight can help reduce sleep apnea severity. Fat deposits on your throat or tongue will make your airway more likely to collapse. However, losing weight is not always easy when you have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea disrupts your metabolism, making your body more likely to turn your food into fat. You’ll likely find it easier to lose weight once you start other sleep apnea treatments.

CPAP is almost 100% effective in treating sleep apnea when used correctly. The pressure from the pump opens your airway and supplies fresh air.

CPAP can also treat both obstructive and central sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea occurs when your brain stops telling your body to breathe. When this happens, the pump keeps supplying your body with oxygen.

In addition, CPAP can treat the most severe cases of obstructive sleep apnea. You just increase the CPAP pressure until it holds your airway open and gives you enough air. Sometimes, this requires supplemental oxygen, but it’s almost always possible.

CPAP includes a mask that straps onto your face. The mask and straps can irritate the skin of your face, causing skin irritation and breakouts. The forced air can feel stifling and may make you think you’re suffocating.

CPAP is also inconvenient to use. You must clean it every time you use it, drying it out properly every night before use. Then, you have to fill your humidifier regularly. Components must be replaced frequently. The machine is also bulky. You might need a bedside cabinet dedicated to your CPAP.

Although CPAP machines are not as noisy as they used to be, they are still air pump, which makes significant noise while operating. You or a bed partner might find sleeping difficult with a CPAP machine running.

CPAP might be inexpensive initially, but it gets expensive to maintain. Replacement hoses and masks add up. In addition, you may have special cleaners and equipment you must buy to keep CPAP appropriately maintained.

If you have CPAP and can’t deal with these problems, or if you’ve been prescribed CPAP and don’t want to deal with these problems, you should consider a CPAP alternative.

Oral appliance therapy only treats obstructive sleep apnea. If you have central sleep apnea, oral appliance therapy can’t help.

Oral appliance therapy is a frontline treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea. If you have this level of sleep apnea, your insurance will cover oral appliance therapy even if you don’t try CPAP first.

If you have severe sleep apnea, it’s best to try CPAP first. However, if you can’t adapt or aren’t getting good results, oral appliance therapy may be the solution.

If you want to treat your sleep apnea without CPAP, let the sleep dentists at StarImage Dental Boutique & Oral Surgery help.

Please call (817) 587-4566 or use our online form to request an appointment so we can determine if you’re a good candidate for oral appliance therapy.