If you feel you may be suffering from sleep apnea, you should make an appointment with your primary doctor for evaluation. He then may decide that you need to see a sleep specialist. Read on for information about sleep apnea, and decide whether you need to dig deeper into the causes of your snoring.

Try losing a few pounds, if you suffer from chronic sleep apnea. Controlled studies have proven that people with this sleep disturbance benefit greatly after losing 20 or more pounds. Symptoms may even diminish completely, so you now have yet another reason to get your weight down to a healthier number!

If you want real assistance with sleep apnea at night, talk to a physician about the optimal CPAP machine for you. Factors such as the machine’s noise level and its size are important to consider. Some are as small as a loaf of bread and quiet as a whisper. A doctor will be able to give advice on machines that they know their patients have had very good luck with.

If you are dealing with sleep apnea and you’re a smoker and drinker, you should quit now to help improve the symptoms of this condition. Both of these bad habits make the airways relax too much, making sleep apnea worse. Quitting these addictions may be the easiest way to address your sleep apnea.

Stop smoking. Smoking cigarettes is bad for you for many different reasons. Smoking can also cause sleep apnea. It isn’t just bad for your lungs; it can also cause your upper airway to swell. This can make it difficult for you to get the breath that you need at night.

It is best to have your sleep apnea diagnosed and treated by a doctor. If left untreated, you won’t be getting the needed rest you need, which will leave you feeling tired and unable to concentrate the next day, and may even lead to serious health problems down the road.

Doctors often recommend that sleep apnea patients consider treatment with a CPAP – Continuous Positive Airway Protection – mask and machine. The machine sends air through a hose to a mask covering your nose. The purpose is to help keep your airway open so you are breathing normally as you sleep. While the machine may initially seem a little foreign and uncomfortable, a great many patients adapt quickly and find they are getting much more restful sleep as a result.

You can curtail the symptoms of this affliction by doing tongue exercises. Try to press your tongue up against the roof of your mouth. Then, hold it there for about three minutes. This will make your throat stronger and prevent the muscles from relaxing too much during sleep and causing apnea.

Try to slim down. Sleep apnea is exacerbated and sometimes even caused by obesity. Try losing enough weight to shift your BMI from obese to just overweight or even healthy. People who have lost weight have improved their sleep apnea symptoms, and some have even cured their sleep apnea completely.

Getting your throat muscles stronger is a great way to have less of a problem with sleep apnea. Sleep apnea results from breathing obstruction due to your soft tissues in your throat collapsing. When your muscles strengthen, they won’t collapse so easily, and your airway will stay clear.

If you have sleep apnea, and you have to have a sleep study, considering taking your pillow from home with you. It can be very difficult to sleep in the sleep lab. You are in an unfamiliar place in a strange bed. You have lots of wires, and electrodes attached to you. Having your own pillow can help to relax you and make it easier to fall asleep.

If you have sleep apnea and have been using your current CPAP machine for five years or more, see if it is time to get it replaced. CPAP technology is rapidly changing all the time. Many insurance policies allow for a new CPAP machine every five years. If yours does, consider upgrading to the newest CPAP so you can get the best treatment possible.

How you sleep can affect your condition. It’s important to find the best position for you to sleep in. Take a foam wedge to lift the top of your body up. An alternative method is to angle your bed so that the head is approximately four inches above the foot.

Laying on your back while sleeping can worsen your sleep apnea symptoms. Instead, try laying on your side. Sew something lumpy onto your pajamas to make sure you do not roll onto your back. Doing this will make sleeping on your back very uncomfortable.

As you have seen from the above article, sleep apnea is treatable, but you need to take proactive steps into the treatment. The ideas above have given you a good foundation to find out helpful information, but, ultimately, a doctor’s visit should be first and foremost on your list of proactive steps.

Think You May Have Sleep Apnea? Find Out Here! was originally published on Spring