Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Oral Appliance Therapy, Your Path to a Good Night’s Rest.
What Is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
Snoring & Obstructive Sleep Apnea
What are the Signs and Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
The most characteristic sign of OSA is chronic, loud snoring followed by choking or gasping sounds. As the loose soft tissues in the airway begin to sag and restrict air flow, a limited amount of air passes through and vibrates against the tissues to create the loud, raspy sound of snoring.
The snoring OSA patient will go silent briefly when the airway is fully obstructed and breathing stops, then wake up suddenly, gulping and choking for air.
- During deep sleep, all of our body muscles and tissues become fully relaxed.
- For OSA patients, as the body enters a relaxed state, the airway soft tissue structures sag and droop, obstructing the airway.
- When the airway becomes fully blocked, the patient stops breathing.
- As the brain detects that breathing has stopped, the patient wakes up gasping for air.
- Breathing again, the body falls back asleep (and the cycle repeats again).
Often, obstructive sleep apnea patients are not aware of how heavily they snore until a sleep partner tells them. The common belief is that ‘everybody snores’ – so, many patients live with undiagnosed OSA. Not all patients that snore have obstructive sleep apnea, however.
How is Obstructive Sleep Apnea Diagnosed?
Obstructive sleep apnea is diagnosed by medical sleep professionals with a sleep study that is performed using sensor technology at a sleep testing facility. The study measures vital signs, breathing patterns, brain wave and muscle activity, eye movement and other diagnostic data while the patient sleeps (polysomnogram).
Portable home sleep study equipment may also be used by your doctor for screening or follow up testing. While not as detailed as a sleep study, home testing equipment tracks basic breathing and heart rates and oxygen saturation levels during sleep.
What treatment options are available for Obstructive Sleep Apnea?
- Some patients with mild OSA may improve or eliminate symptoms by losing weight; this helps to reduce the amount of fatty tissue around the neck and relieve pressure on the airway.
- Alcohol and sedative medications can have a depressant effect on the respiratory system. Avoiding these substances before sleep may improve or eliminate OSA symptoms.
- CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) is the standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. The OSA patient wears a face mask while sleeping that is connected by tubing to a machine that produces a continual supply of mildly pressurized air. Breathing the pressurized air flow helps keep the airway soft tissues intact and reduce the risk of blockage.
- Dr. Josh Chapman provides oral appliance therapy for OSA patients that are CPAP intolerant due to difficulty falling asleep, sinus irritation or other side effects. A removable OSA oral appliance is designed to position the jaw forward to assist with maintaining an open airway during sleep.