Prevent and Improve Sleep Apnea With Six Lifestyle Changes

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It may be just loud snoring, but you’ll never know how serious sleep apnea is unless the condition triggers mental health issues, leads to reduced immune function, contributes to memory loss, or increases your risk of heart failure.

Although sleep apnea can sound like snoring, people are not aware that they might have stopped breathing while they sleep. You see, sleep apnea causes you to stop breathing or have a series of pauses in breathing while asleep. People with the condition usually don’t breathe in enough oxygen, hence causes them to gasp for air and wake up.

According to Sleep Review Mag, obstructive sleep apnea is a lifestyle disease for most patients. A large number of patients with sleep apnea involves a lifestyle component. In addition, more than 70 percent of people with sleep apnea are obese.

Anxiety, mood disorders, and several behavioral issues are typical with patients and can impact the outcome of their treatment. If you are smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, or not getting enough sleep, your sleep apnea can worsen and harder to treat.

If you want to improve your condition, it’s time to consider changing your lifestyle and beat sleep apnea! In most cases, aside from ending up more tired in the morning, sleep apnea can lead to numerous health complications.

Although standard treatment includes medication, breathing devices like CPAP masks, and surgery, there are a couple of lifestyle changes that can help improve and prevent sleep apnea. CPAP Masks

We bet you do not want any of these surgeries, so before your sleep apnea gets worse, check out these lifestyle changes and home remedies to help improve and prevent your sleep apnea symptoms.

Lifestyle and Home Remedies for Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a treatable condition, and the most common medications include wearing a continuous positive airway pressure or CPAP mask while you sleep. No Insurance Medical Supplies offers a wide range of CPAP mask options that can help improve your condition.

However, although CPAP mask is proven effective in alleviating and getting rid of symptoms of sleep apnea, some people find wearing a CPAP mask at night uncomfortable. If this is you, don’t worry because these lifestyle changes can help manage your sleep apnea.

If you are obese or overweight, the number one remedy for you is to lose the excess pounds. Doctors usually recommend sleep apnea patients to maintain a healthy weight since obesity can substantially narrow nasal passages and increase the risk of airway obstruction.

These issues can make you stop breathing or abrupt pauses in breathing many times while sleeping. Losing weight can reduce sleep apnea symptoms by keeping your airways clear. According to the US National Center for Biotechnology Information, significant weight reduction in obese people won’t need upper airway surgery or long-term use of CPAP mask.

Weight loss can totally get rid of sleep apnea. However, gaining weight again can make the condition come back.

2. Change Your Sleeping Position

Although altering your sleep position may seem a small change, this can effectively reduce symptoms of sleep apnea and enhance the quality of your sleep. According to “The Role of Sleep Position in Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome” research, over half of the cases of obstructive sleep apnea are dependent on sleep position.

Another publication proved that sleeping on your back, also called supine position, can make your sleep apnea symptoms worse. If you are an adult, sleeping on your side can help in getting back your breathing to normal. However, a study has proven that children with sleep apnea symptoms are better off sleeping on their backs.

To check how sleep positions help improve your sleep apnea, have someone watch you sleep. Ask how your breathing patterns or snoring change in a particular sleeping position.

3. Try yoga or have a regular exercise routine

A regular exercise routine can strengthen your heart, increase your energy levels, and improve sleep apnea symptoms. Yoga, in particular, can encourage the flow of oxygen and enhance your respiratory health.

Since sleep apnea is partly caused by decreased oxygen saturation in the blood, yoga can help improve your oxygen levels by doing different breathing exercises. Thus, yoga significantly reduces the number of sleep troubles you may have.

4. Get rid of alcohol and smoking

Better sleeping habits come as a result of a few lifestyle changes, including staying away from alcohol and quitting smoking. Eliminating bad habits can generally improve your overall health and, thus, manage sleep apnea complications.

Alcohol, in particular, is influential in relaxing the muscles in your throat that control your breathing. When your throat muscle relaxes, this can lead to snoring and obstruct your sleep cycle. In more severe cases, it can cause inflammation in your airways, which means it can block your airflow and experience difficulty breathing.

Like alcohol, smoking tobacco can also lead to swelling and inflammation in your airways. Smoking cigarettes can increase your sleep apnea symptoms since the substance in the tobacco can make your airway to swell. In addition, smoking can also act as a sedative. Thus, smoking can make your snoring and sleep apnea worse.

Moreover, smoking has been identified as one of the risk factors for developing symptoms of sleep apnea. If you want to improve your sleep apnea, and improve your overall health, try to quit smoking now.

If you cannot tolerate a CPAP mask, a humidifier can help improve your breathing by opening your airways and decreasing congestion. Humidifiers are often used to add moisture to the air in your room. Dry air not only irritate the body, but it also irritates your respiratory system.

Adding essential oils to your humidifier can be beneficial. Peppermint, lavender, and eucalyptus oil are essential oils that are popular for their soothing and anti-inflammatory properties. Just make sure to clean your humidifier every once in a while, following the manufacturer’s instructions as molds and bacteria can accumulate in humidifiers.

6. Try Oral Appliances

The American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine recommends oral appliances for effective sleep apnea therapy. In fact, they suggest oral appliances for those who suffer from sleep apnea and have trouble adapting to a CPAP mask. These appliances can improve sleep apnea through repositioning of the tongue or jaw to maintain an open airway while sleeping.

There are two major categories, namely tongue stabilizing devices, and mandibular advancement devices. These oral appliances function by repositioning your tongue or lower jaw and placing them forward to reduce the obstruction in the back of your throat.

These devices are available low-cost, over-the-counter (OTC), or custom-fit by your dentist. Most practitioners prefer custom-fit oral appliances over OTC options since they enable personalized jaw positioning which can lead to improved sleep quality.

Your Road to a Better Sleep

Finally, although lifestyle changes and home remedies can indeed help decrease sleep apnea symptoms, you should not totally ignore medical treatments. Your doctor can prescribe some medications and, in some cases, surgery.

Depending on your condition, these are part of the required methods to treat sleep apnea entirely and will help you have a comfortable and sound sleep for the long term. Make sure to talk about your options with your doctor and always seek medical advice if your symptoms are not improving or start to worsen.