Do you wake up more tired than when you went to sleep? Do you need a nap during the day? Does your partner complain about snoring? You may have a condition called sleep apnea.
Left untreated, it can lead to more serious health problems, including cardiovascular issues. Beavers and Broomfield Family Dentistry offers myofunctional therapy to treat sleep apnea and other mouth issues.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder that has been shown to cause a variety of health issues, from cardiovascular problems to memory issues. It disrupts the flow of oxygen to the body, which can damage the organs, including the brain and heart.
It’s also been shown to cause daytime fatigue and sexual dysfunction. It can even cause childhood asthma, though sleep apnea is much more common in adults. Studies estimate that 18-25 million adults suffer from this disorder.
Sleep apnea usually occurs at night during regular sleep, though it can also occur with daytime sleeping. A person will stop breathing temporarily, usually for several seconds. This can happen dozens of times in one night and even up to 100 times a night for the most severe cases.
Airway Obstruction
What causes sleep apnea? Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by the throat muscles and tongue, which relax and block your airway as you sleep. The throat muscles alone can block the airway, or it can happen in combination with the tongue slipping back too far and closing your throat.
This reduces oxygen and increases carbon dioxide in the blood, which triggers your brain to wake partially and correct the issue. But the disruptions can spoil healthy sleep, during which your body rejuvenates from any fatigue, damage, or illness of the day.
Studies have shown that breathing problems or disruptions in breathing during sleep increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and weight problems.
What Are the Symptoms of Sleep Apnea?
How do you know if you have sleep apnea, especially if you sleep through it? The disorder produces several sleep apnea symptoms that appear during the day.
You may recognize these obstructive sleep apnea symptoms:
- Headaches, especially right after waking up
- Feel tired when waking up
- Napping or excessive daytime sleepiness
- Waking several times during the night
- Concentration issues
- Longer times healing from common ailments or illnesses
- Mood swings
- Problems controlling high blood pressure, diabetes, or other medical problems
- Weight loss or gain
- Heart disease
Your partner may notice you snoring, choking, gasping, or pausing breathing during the night. You may also discover this through a sleep study or a sleep phone app that tracks and monitors your sleep patterns and sounds.
What Causes Sleep Apnea?
The causes of sleep apnea are still debated because some types may not have a set cause, while others have many possible causes. Not everyone’s throat muscles relax enough to cause this condition.
Scientists have identified several risk factors that could cause or contribute to sleep apnea. Those include:
- Larger tongue
- Larger neck or throat
- Larger tonsils
- Smaller lower jaw
- Sinus or nasal issues, such as narrow passageways or swollen membranes
- Obesity
- Over 40 years of age
Studies show more men have this disorder than women, and more post-menopausal women have it than pre-menopausal. However, it can affect any age, including children, though it’s rarer in kids.
Treatment for Sleep Apnea
Several treatments exist for sleep apnea, from simple dental oral appliances to sleep apnea surgery in extreme cases.
Many people use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which forces oxygen down the throat during sleep and keeps the passageway open. However, these machines require sleeping in masks that can be awkward or uncomfortable.
Beavers and Broomfield Family Dentistry offers treatment using myofunctional therapy for sleep apnea. This treatment retrains the muscles and tongue to prevent them from blocking the airway at night.
Because it’s a chronic condition, it’s nearly impossible to cure someone of this sleeping disorder. However, myofunctional therapy sleep apnea treatment can reduce occurrences and symptoms and improve health.
Myofunctional therapy is a type of physical therapy that includes exercises to improve the mouth’s muscles, including the tongue. Myofunctional therapy is designed to help you sleep, breathe, eat, and talk better.
We can use myofunctional therapy techniques to help reduce your sleep apnea. This treatment can improve the placement of your tongue and the coordination and strength of your tongue and throat muscles. The goal is to reduce the severity of the condition.
Sleep Apnea Treatment in Fayetteville, AR
Sleep apnea therapy can improve your overall health and quality of life. Myofunctional therapy can improve your sleep disorder and your health and possibly allow you to sleep better without uncomfortable masks.
Schedule an appointment with Beavers and Broomfield Family Dentistry in Fayetteville, AR, to learn more about myofunctional therapy treatments and how we can help you sleep better!
