Sleep apnea is a condition that can negatively affect people’s lives. It is a disability that’s becoming more and more common. It is much more common in men than women, and the risk of it increases with age and weight gain.
Many people with sleep apnea are smokers. If you are unfortunate enough to suffer from this condition, then there are a few things you should know. This post will explore them, telling you how you can manage sleep apnea and improve the quality of your sleep, and in turn, your life.
What Is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
Obstructive sleep apnea is a condition that occurs when the soft tissue muscles in a person’s throat relax when they are asleep. When these muscles relax, the person’s airway is closed. This means that they are temporarily unable to breathe.
People do not always wake up when they suffer from sleep apnea, but it can cause them to stir or snore. Some of the symptoms of this condition are daytime sleepiness, pauses in breath throughout the night, noisy breathing, periods where breathing stops and returns with a gasp or a snort, and loud snoring.
Other than daytime sleepiness, you might not notice these symptoms yourself. Instead, your partner or somebody you sleep in the same house as might. If a loved one tells you that you have been experiencing any of the aforementioned symptoms, you need to act quickly. The sooner you pursue treatment, the better.
Seeking Professional Treatment
The easiest way to manage sleep apnea is to seek out professional treatment. If you are looking for obstructive sleep apnea treatment, you need to find the best clinic you can. A good way to tell whether a clinic is worth signing up for is to look at their pricing plans. If you do not have health insurance, you will have to pay out of pocket.
Check your policy to make sure your insurer covers sleep apnea treatment if you are insured. Feedback is also important. Take a look at the clinic’s feedback and see what people are saying about them.
If a clinic’s feedback is overwhelmingly positive, this is a clear sign you can trust them. Also, make sure they are properly accredited and licensed. A clinic’s licensing status should be available on their website, usually at the footer of their homepage.
Losing Some Weight
One of the causes of sleep apnea is obesity. If you are overweight, now’s the time to change that. Adopting a healthier lifestyle is one of the most effective ways for you to lose weight. Living more healthily can be difficult if it is not something you are accustomed to. A good way to lose weight is to eat better.
Eating a healthier diet can help you shed pounds and get slim. Bear in mind that if you are going to use diet control to lose weight, you need to make sure that you avoid any excessive diets or fasts. Fasting can be good when it’s done in moderation, but if you are going to avoid eating for weeks to lose weight, you’ll cause more harm than good.
Exercise can also help you to lose weight. You do not necessarily need to go to the gym to exercise if you do not want to. You can lose weight by exercising at home. The best type of exercise to perform at home is calisthenics.
Calisthenics are bodyweight exercises, so you do not need any special equipment or weights. As long as you have a mat and a routine worked out, you can perform them.
Quit Smoking
Smoking can be a cause of obstructive sleep apnea. It’s also something that can cause a number of other conditions. If an addiction to smoking is a problem that you have, now is the time to quote. Quitting smoking is something that a lot of people struggle with. One of the main reasons that smoking is so hard to quit is because nicotine addictions can be very intense.
Overcoming your addiction to smoking will help you to treat your sleep apnea and help you to reduce your risk of developing cancer, heart disease, and a number of other help conditions. Make sure that when you are trying to quit smoking, you consider going to a cessation clinic.
A smoking cessation clinic is somewhere that you can go to get help from professionals who are knowledgeable and experienced in treating people’s nicotine addictions. Smoking cessation clinics are usually free, so you do not have to worry about paying to go to them.
You may have to pay for nicotine gum and the other medications that they typically prescribe to treat people’s addictions, however. The amount you will have to pay will be very little, though.
Taking Sleeping Pills
Did you know that taking sleeping pills can make your sleep apnea much worse? If it’s a condition you are suffering from, yet you have problems sleeping, you need to find alternatives. There are many natural remedies and medicines you can use to help you get a better quality of sleep.
If you are planning on using alternatives, consult a doctor and ask them for their recommendations. A doctor who’s trained in dealing with sleep disorders will be able to recommend natural remedies that you can use to treat your problems with sleep. They will also help you to make positive lifestyle changes, i.e., cutting down on your screen time.
Studies show that people who are chronically exposed to mobile devices and screens are more likely to suffer from insomnia than people who are otherwise healthy, but not addicted to their devices.
Blue light stimulates the brain, so if you are exposed to it before bed, it can keep you awake. Reducing your exposure to mobile devices and computers can do wonders for your health, so it’s definitely worth doing, even if you do not suffer from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a condition that can be very hard to manage, especially if it comes on suddenly and you have no experience dealing with it. The guidance given here will make it much easier for you to work through your condition and get over it.