Are you suffering from issues with sleep apnea? It’s quite possible that you are experiencing this condition without even realizing it. Problems here can cause long term issues in your life and discomfort.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a condition that causes the throat to close in on itself while you are sleeping. This can lead to temporary breaks in your breathing that can last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple minutes. The physical signs of this condition are usually loud snoring. You probably won’t notice this unless the condition is so severe that it causes you to wake up in the middle of the night. However, your partner may have spotted the problems with your breathing.
Sleep apnea can also cause you to get a poor night of sleep leaving you exhausted in the morning. It’s also quite common for patients to experience painful headaches during the first hours after they wake up.
You might be wondering what treatment options are available to you. One possibility that you should consider is the use of oral appliance therapy.
Benefits Of Oral Appliance Therapy
There is a massive level of benefits of using oral appliances to treat your sleep apnea. You might be worried that something that fits in your mouth is going to be uncomfortable. On the contrary, since these slip fully inside the mouth, they do not disrupt your movement in your sleep. You can lie however you want which isn’t always the case with sleep apnea treatment when using a CPAP. Instead, you are usually confined to sleeping on your back. Since the device is small enough to fit inside the mouth it can also be easily and quickly adjusted if it does become uncomfortable.
Another big benefit is that these have been proven to be an effective form of treatment with limited side effects. Some sleep apnea treatments cause issues with dry mouths and noses that feel blocked or even a rash around the mouth. Oral appliance therapy doesn’t involve these issues and as such will not be removed halfway through the night to provide relief. This leads to a higher level of success for all patients.
Furthermore, since these devices are small they can be taken anywhere. Whether you’re heading to a hotel, going on vacation or travelling internationally on a business trip, these can fit in your backpack or your pocket. It also means that you won’t have to spend even a couple of nights without the device you need.
Importance Of Oral Appliance Therapy
Sleep apnea is more serious than most people realize. Those who suffer from this issue are more likely to experience conditions including strokes, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and issues with high blood pressure. Thankfully, with oral appliance therapy, the condition can be treated without surgery or a CPAP. Instead, patients can get the relief they need and ensure that these risks are greatly reduced, simply by using a device that fits into the palm of your hand.
We hope this helps you understand why oral appliance therapy is so useful and beneficial for treating sleep apnea. Contact us to schedule an appointment today!
