Sleep apnea treatments come in the form of lifestyle changes. Quitting smoking, if you smoke, and losing weight to decrease obesity can be enough of a change to eliminate sleep apnea and allow you to sleep better at night. If, on the other hand, these measures are not enough there are treatment options available to reduce the life-threatening effects you are susceptible to.
If you have Obstructive Sleep Apnea, the most common form of treatment is a CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine. Using a CPAP machine, you must wear a mask that fits snugly over your nose and/or mouth. The mask is attached to a machine that blows air continuously into your nose and/or mouth when you are sleeping. This enables your airway stays open and you do not suffocate in your sleep.
What usually happens during your sleep is the oxygen levels of your blood drop at least 4%. Therefore, your brain signals you to wake up so you can resume breathing. This can happen as much as thirty times per hour for as long as you are asleep. So if you are asleep for eight hours and you stop breathing 30 times every hour, you stop breathing 240 times per night. If each stoppage lasts one minute and your brain wakes you up each time, you miss out on four hours of sleep every single night of the week for weeks or months on end.
If you only have a mild form of sleep apnea, you could probably get away with wearing an oral device to keep your tongue from falling back and blocking your airway. These devices either hold your tongue down or change the way you hold your mouth when you are sleeping, thus giving you more room behind your tongue, keeping your airway open for air.
You may be encouraged by your doctor to teach yourself to sleep on your side instead of rolling on to your back. A good idea is to sleep with a rolled up blanket or pillow behind your back to “remind” you when you are sleeping to stay on your side.
If you have a moderate to severe case, surgery may be necessary to remove the obstruction. Obstructions can include a deviated septum in the nasal passages or tonsils and adenoids in the throat and sinuses. Removing the tonsils and adenoids will allow for more room in the airway and make a collapse of the airway less likely.
Central sleep apnea or complex, or mixed, sleep apnea is the most dangerous kind of apnea. This is the type where your brain fails to signal the muscles that control your breathing to initiate a breath on a consistent basis throughout the night.
In the most severe cases as in central, complex, or mixed sleep apnea, a tracheotomy with placement of a trachea tube in the throat or below the obstructed area may be necessary.