Sleep Apnea & Snoring Solutions Charlotte
Poor sleep is a certain way to ruin your day-to-day life. Your wellness, your performance and your productivity, even your relationships, can all suffer.
A common reason for poor sleep is Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Both of these medical conditions involve a collapse of the upper airway during sleep. With snoring, the airway collapses just enough to allow the tissues to vibrate causing the snoring sound. Snoring affects the person who snores by causing less
restful sleep and can even lead to medical problems such as carotid artery atherosclerosis (blockage of the arteries in the neck that supply the brain.) The annoying sound of snoring can also impact the health and well-being of the bed partner. Bed partners of snorers are more prone to depression and anxiety. Snoring can also ruin relationships.
Snoring can be a sign of something more serious – Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). In this case, relaxation of the airway muscles during sleep allows the airway to completely and repeatedly collapse thus blocking any air (including oxygen) from getting through. A person with even mild obstructive sleep apnea can stop breathing 50 times per night. In severe cases, the number can reach over 500 times per night. Since these episodes occur repeatedly throughout the night, this can be taxing on your body, including your heart.
What’s worse, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is also a progressive disorder as it tends to worsen with age.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) results in repeated insults to your body but because these events don’t cause one to completely wake up, most sufferers are unaware of the problem. Yet sleep apnea also causes your sleep cycle to reset multiple times during night, which affects how you feel when you wake up and how you perform throughout the day. Sufferers of Obstructive Sleep Apnea often complain of awakening from sleep but still feeling tired, a fatigue that can carry on throughout the day.
When sleep apnea goes untreated, patients are more likely to suffer from strokes, heart problems and high blood pressure, as well as a higher incidence of work and driving-related accidents. There is even an association of sleep apnea with Alzheimer’s disease, depression, erectile dysfunction, and acid reflux. The risk of sleep apnea increases with additional body weight because excess tissue in the back of the throat can narrow and block the airway even more. Sleep apnea can even be fatal if the case is severe and left untreated.
Take a few minutes to peruse the sections on Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Snoring and Sleep Apnea. If you suffer from these issues, please call our office to schedule a consultation appointment. We’re here to help!