Sleep apnea treatment can be highly effective. When used properly, studies show that it can lower one’s risk of sleep apnea-related complications. In some cases, such as serious traffic accidents, studies show that effective treatment can lower one’s risk to the level of people without sleep apnea.
Once people start to see the benefits of their sleep apnea treatment, though, they are often eager to see what they can do to make their treatment even more effective. Here’s what you can do to supplement your sleep apnea treatment to get the most out of it.
Follow the Treatment Instructions
First and most importantly, ensure you’re following all the treatment instructions for your therapy. When you first get your sleep apnea treatment, whether it’s CPAP or an oral appliance provided through dental sleep medicine, there are many instructions. It’s easy to lose track of some of the details. Plus, it can be hard to follow along when you don’t have the full context for what it’s like to use your treatment and what issues might come up.
So, it’s a good idea to review the instructions you were given when you received your sleep apnea treatment. Read them in full, maybe not all at once, but over a few days, and give yourself time to digest them completely. If you have questions, contact your sleep physician or sleep dentist for clarification.
Quit Smoking
One of the best things you can do to help sleep apnea treatment and for your health is to quit smoking. Smoking negatively affects the function of your lungs, and it can irritate your airway, causing swelling. Irritated airways can be more sensitive to CPAP, making the treatment less comfortable. Swelling narrows the airways, constricting the space you have to breathe. This can contribute to hypopneas and apneas.
Quitting smoking will not only make it easier to breathe, but it can reduce your risk of many cardiovascular complications that overlap with sleep apnea risks, including heart disease, heart failure, stroke, and cancer, making this a doubly vital step to take. However, it’s also admittedly challenging.
Eat Right
Another way to improve the results of your sleep apnea treatment is to eat right.
Of course, it’s important to watch your weight. Being overweight contributes to sleep apnea because fat deposits narrow your airway and weigh it down, contributing to collapse. Unfortunately, it’s hard to lose weight while you have sleep apnea since the condition interferes with your body’s normal metabolic processes, contributing to cravings for foods that lead to weight gain and making your body more likely to store food as fat. Sleep apnea treatment can help you turn the corner, restoring a more normal metabolism that can make it easier to lose weight.
Another consideration is that you want to avoid foods that can trigger reactions, including mild allergies—which can cause swelling—or the development of excessive mucus, which can clog your airways. Both of these contribute to airway narrowing and collapse.
Be Active
It’s also important to be active while getting sleep apnea treatment. The same considerations for weight apply here. If you can lose weight, it can improve your sleep apnea. This is also a challenge for people with sleep apnea, which can sap your energy and make it hard to exercise.
Even if you can’t manage to lose weight, being active is important. Activity can help tone your airway muscles, making it easier for them to hold your airway open. Some people recommend and swear by specific sleep apnea exercises, but there isn’t good evidence to support them over a generally active lifestyle.
Sleep in the Best Position
Your sleeping position can affect the severity of your sleep apnea. Sometimes, sleep apnea treatment will work best if you sleep in a particular position. Check your instructions and see if they tell you to sleep in a certain position. If not, side sleeping is generally better for reducing the severity of your sleep apnea.
Find the Right Sleep Apnea Treatment
Have you done everything above, but haven’t you seen the desired results? It may be time to consider that you might not have the optimal sleep apnea treatment. Whether you aren’t starting it before going to bed, knock it off during the night, or have trouble maintaining the device properly, you might benefit from trying a different treatment.
Most often, it’s CPAP users looking for an alternative. Many people dislike CPAP, so they will do it only a fraction of the time they are supposed to. In contrast, according to studies, users of oral appliances provided through dental sleep medicine treatment almost always follows guidelines, and most users will wear their appliance all night, every night.
Help Optimizing Your Sleep Apnea Treatment
If you’re not getting the results you want from your sleep apnea treatment, it might be time to consider your options and find one to help you feel better. At the Michigan Head & Neck Institute, we’ve helped many people move away from sleep apnea treatments that aren’t working for them to find an approach that delivers outstanding results. We aim to help you feel better rested while reducing your risk of serious complications. We can arrange a sleep study to test your current treatment effectiveness and assess your suitability for other treatment alternatives.
If you want to find sleep apnea treatment in Detroit that will deliver better results, call one of our sleep dentists at (586) 573-0438 today.