If you have ever talked to a medical professional about your sleep apnea, then you know basically what each of them will say. They promote the continuous positive airway pressure therapy (CPAP) for treating it. Sleep apnea affects millions of people, and many have no idea they are suffering from it. Obstructive sleep apnea is when the person stops breathing literally hundreds of times a night, sometimes for seconds and other times for minutes. What you believe was just loud snoring is probably sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea can have several major health consequences. It can lead to heart disease, stroke, depression, restless days and nights, and can really alter someone’s mood and personality. Those dealing with sleep apnea are not receiving a proper night’s rest, so they are in a constant drowsy state. This can affect your relationship with everyone in your life. When people are tired and exhausted, they are usually a bit agitated and down.
The CPAP machine that is often prescribed to those suffering from sleep apnea has a few major drawbacks, and they don’t always work for the person. The mask that must be worn at night can be ill-fitting and often gets in the way. The air pressure can make it quite intolerable as well. In addition, if the person often travels, it can be quite cumbersome to bring the CPAP machine along everywhere. If the person suffering from sleep apnea perceives the CPAP machine as a hassle to use, there is quite a good chance that they won’t use it for long.
There are other options, though, for treating sleep apnea. Those that are overweight appear to suffer from sleep apnea the most. The extra fat around the neck area obstructs the breathing while sleeping. If you know you have sleep apnea and that you have weight to lose, the logical thing would be to lose the excess weight. In doing so, it might just cure you of your sleep apnea. Plus, not carrying around all that extra weight will make your life more enjoyable. The United States is the most obese country in the world. About half of the population of adults is either overweight or clinically obese. It is no wonder so many people suffer from sleep apnea.
Another possible cure for sleep apnea is to simply change the position you are sleeping in. People that sleep on their back tend to be the loudest snorers and have the most severe cases of sleep apnea. By sleeping on your side, you might actually solve the problem. You might have to do some things to make sure you are sleeping on your side though. While falling asleep on your side originally is not tough to do, at some point during the night you will turn on your back again in your sleep. Having a couple full length body pillows blocking you from sleeping on your back is one option. Another option is to tape something on your back that will make it almost impossible to sleep in that position. One man taped Lego bricks onto his back, so anytime he flipped over, the Lego would start to dig into his skin and make it too uncomfortable to sleep.
Dentists are often turned to for help from those suffering from sleep apnea. In fact, they are sometimes the one to originally diagnose the patient with the sleeping disorder. When a patient is put to sleep in the dental chair for various reasons, a dentist can quickly realize that they have sleep apnea by the amount of times they immediately quit breathing once they are put out.
Dr. Avi Weisfogel, a dentist from New Jersey, has a lot of experience diagnosing and treating those who deal with obstructive sleep apnea. Beginning at the very start of his dental career, he was noticing his patients were experiencing sleep apnea symptoms. Many of them did not even realize they suffered from it. It was a problem that Weisfogel wanted to fix.
His new passion after fifteen years of running a successful dental practice was now treating those who were facing serious health consequences from sleep apnea. It was quite a change since those that have sleep apnea seldom know it, and if they do, they often ignore it. Just getting patients through the doors were difficult with his new sleep clinic.
Weisfogel had created oral appliances for the person to wear during sleep that would push the jaw slightly forward and open up the airway better. This would lead to the person breathing easier and have a better night of sleep. This would also help alleviate their loud snoring, since loud snoring is often related to an airway that is slightly obstructed. So here Weisfogel was with a great new invention that would help possibly millions, but enough people did not know about it or were just not interested. He had never faced this problem with his dental practice. It was always successful from the beginning.
After a couple years and a few million dollars, Weisfogel finally started narrowing down on his marketing and advertising to make his new sleep clinic business a success. In fact, he now works with other dentists and medical professionals with opening up their own sleep clinics inside their offices to help alleviate sleep apnea on a broader basis.
As you have read, there are a few options to choose from when trying to treat sleep apnea. If you or someone you know might suffer from it, but has not been properly diagnosed, the first step would be to do this. It can be a bit cumbersome to do this, but taking a day or two out of your busy life to treat a potentially deadly health problem is well worth it. You may actually be extending your life by years. A couple days now for a much longer life seems like a fair trade-off.
To read our previous articles on Dr. Weisfogel, click here and here.
| |
