What is CPAP? It stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure - a kind of pressure ideal in keeping the muscles in your throat from collapsing. As you can recall, sleep apnea (specifically the Obtrusive kind) is caused by a certain blockage in the air path. This blockage results from the relaxation of your throat muscles while you sleep.
But some of you may not know that the CPAP machine is not the only sleep apnea treatment procedure. Yes, there are still other devices that you can use, especially when you cannot tolerate the discomfort of wearing a mask (Respironics masks in Toronto and elsewhere - for instance) while you sleep. Here are some of them:
The Use of Dental Devices
Sleep apnea is largely about a structural malfunction. This means that some of the parts of your body are going awry - and are not working properly. Malfunctions and abnormalities in the neck, jaw, throat, tongue or face will give you greater chances of developing sleep apnea.
One of the less common sleep apnea treatment options is the use of a dental device. Your doctor may give you a Mandibular Advancement Device or a Tongue Retaining Device. The latter helps your breathing by keeping your tongue in place. The former, on the other hand, pushes your jaw forward and down. Both of these dental devices aim to keep the airway open while you sleep.
Maxillary Expansion
This sleep apnea treatment method involves the application of a screw device to your upper teeth. This is especially helpful for patients with a narrow jaw - as the device reduces nasal pressure. This procedure, however, is non-surgical.
Surgery
If your condition becomes severe, some throat specialists may recommend that you take surgery. This sleep apnea treatment procedure, medically termed as Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) involves the removal of some of your throat tissues.
Yes, that name looks very long and difficult to read but it actually stands for three names of tissues: the uvula, the soft palate, and the pharynx. The uvula is a soft flap hanging down at the back of the mouth. Sometimes, this sleep apnea treatment procedure also involves the removal of the tonsils.All these tissues are removed for the purpose of widening the airway - especially at the upper part, near the throat's opening.
If you are diagnosed with sleep apnea, make sure you properly discuss with your doctors your treatment procedures. Don't immediately opt for a surgery. This procedure is invasive enough. The fact that this sleep apnea treatment procedure has a success rate of only 50% should keep you from "going under the knife." There are many other options available, take them. They may be uncomfortable at first, but discomfort may become negligible over time. Sometimes, discomfort is the price that you have to pay for keeping you - and your throat - intact.
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Sleep Apnea New Treatments
There are many different sleep apnea treatments to choose from if you find yourself suffering with the sleeping disorder. However, depending on your age, some may be more effective and easier than others. For example, when children are suffering from sleep apnea, quite frequently the treatment of choice is a tonsillectomy or adenoidectomy surgery. These surgeries don't just treat the sleep apnea, they cure it. Before surgery is decided upon, many times the doctor will try prescribing a course of anti-inflammatory steroids (like prednisone or a different kind of glucocorticoid drug). These drugs will provide short term solutions to the short term problem of tonsillar and adenoidal enlargement due to acute infectious mononucleosis.
While many of the words describing sleep apnea treatments are long and hard to pronounce, some are easier to say and understand. Some doctors, for instance, believe that sleep apnea is a neurological condition, caused by the nerves that control the soft palate and tongue failing to stimulate those muscles. These doctors are currently working on neurostimulation trials, checking to see if the use of pacemakers or other similar devices can put a quick and easy end to the sleep apnea. So far, the early trials look promising.
Surgery is also one of the more common sleep apnea treatments available for patients today. That said, in some cases the use of sedatives and analgesics in patients can cause life threatening breathing irregularities, even when used in low doses. As a result, post op use of these drugs should be minimized, if not avoided altogether. Also, sometimes the swelling that occurs after the surgery is so bad that it causes more interference with normal breathing. Again, in extreme cases death can be the end result. The best way to avoid these complications is to be intensively monitored while you sleep.
Both Dhaxel Barqs & John Spencer are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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