Snoring is the sound of partially obstructed breathing during sleep.
Between 10 to 30 percent of all adults snore, and some children do also. Many snorers may experience other problems associated with their snoring problem. Snoring can lead to a reduced sleep efficiency and quality of rest. There are different levels or stages of sleep and you must spend enough time in a deep sleep state to experience a restful nights sleep. Loud snoring can be a sign of an upper airway resistance, causing your breathing to be labored and disruptive to your sleep. As a result, you may feel tired throughout the day.
Snoring also can be a indicator of
Snoring also can be a indicator of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a potentially life threatening disease that causes you to actually stop breathing many times during sleep. The lack of oxygen results in repeatedly waking yourself up during the night. Although you may not become totally awake, the level of sleep is such that the restful phase of sleep is achieved infrequently if at all and is not sustained long enough to get a good nights sleep. OSA leads to excessive daytime sleepiness and may put you at risk for high blood pressure, heart attack or stroke.
When should you be concerned about snoring?
Sleep disordered breathing and its treatment can be very complex subjects. Snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness are serious problems. Maybe your child does not sleep well due to snoring and performs poorly in school. Maybe your spouse cannot sleep in the same room with you because your snoring is so frequent and so loud. Maybe your job involves driving, and you fear having an accident due to daytime drowsiness that follows a poor nights sleep. These scenarios all may result from an undiagnosed and untreated sleep related breathing disorder.
We can help!
Your sleep physician and we can jointly diagnose a sleep related breathing disorder. If it is determined that an oral appliance that helps maintain an airway will help, we can fit you with a custom made mouth guard type appliance that is comfortable, improves your breathing efficiency, and reduces snoring during sleep.
Oral appliances can be used alone or with other therapies including diet and exercise, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), and surgery. Surgery may be require if your airway needs reshaping.
An oral appliance can be worn to ease your symptoms as you are evaluated for the need of additional airway management and treatment, or if you are using CPAP and do not wish to travel with this bulky apparatus. We will closely monitor your progress while you use the oral appliance. While ther is no current therapy that works 100% of the time for all patients, Oral appliance therapy, CPAP, and possibly surgery can help alleviate your symptoms and allow you to get a good restful nights sleep.
Oral appliance therapy is convenient, comfortable, much less expensive than other therapies and is reversible. Oral appliance therapy can also be used in conjunction with other treatments.
We can work with your physician to provide diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care so you can get the sleep you need for overall good health. Call us and ask how you can be evaluated for this all to common problem. |
