Sleep APNOEA TREATMENTS
What Treatments Are Available For Sleep Apnoea?
If your sleep apnoea diagnosis is mild or moderate your doctor may only recommend making lifestyle changes such as losing weight, stop smoking, cutting down on alcohol intake (particularly after 6pm), treating any nasal allergies (if you have any), even simple changes like sleeping on one’s side.
Moderate to severe diagnosis will often require the use of a device called a CPAP machine. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is an effective nightly use treatment which sends air pressure into your airways through a mask whilst you sleep. The mask is worn just under the nose or over the mouth for open mouth breathers and is connected to a quiet small pump which sits beside the bed.
Your mask must be comfortable, fit well and be easy to take on and off. An ill-fitting mask can make the treatment less effective; it is incredibly important therefore to ensure you speak to your doctor or sleep technician to adjust this in order to reap the benefits of a good night’s sleep, especially when worn every night.
Instead of CPAP you may be prescribed BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) which works in a similar way to CPAP but rather than there being a constant flow of air pressure this device will deliver variable amounts, one for inhalation and one for exhalation.
Should a CPAP, BiPAP machine not be something you wish to continue with there are other alternatives, a sports gum shield like oral mouthpiece can be worn at night which holds the jaw or tongue in a specific position in order to open up the airways. Surgery, though usually not a first choice option is something to be considered for those with say large tonsils or adenoids.
Adaptive servo ventilation (ASV) is a recently approved non-invasive airflow device which helps those diagnosed with complex sleep apnoea. It helps by getting to know your breathing patterns and stores this newly learnt information into a built-in computer.
Once asleep the device will monitor breathing patterns and whenever it picks up an abnormality it intervenes with just enough air pressure to maintain the patient’s breathing. When the abnormality in breathing ends the machine re-adjusts itself to the normal breathing pattern.
