Recently we have had a few clients suffering from Sleep Apnea. This condition can wreak havoc on your entire health and disrupt your entire life. As with many disorders these days, people are stuck in a reactive mode and more or less just treating symptoms with medications and using treatments or machines to "fix them". We have found that the only true solution for these conditions is to find the original cause and eliminate it/them. For many it is learning how to breathe, for others it is more about nutrition or exercise. In most cases you will find STRESS is a huge component. But what is common to all of them is you need to have all of the 4 things I just mentioned in order to be rid of this debilitating problem. Make sure you read our article on our Top 10 Tips for sleeping.
Here is a very interesting article from 911 Health Shop about Sleep Apnea about some of the common therapies and treatments available.
"Sleep apnea is a condition where you momentarily stop breathing during your sleep from as few as five times to as many as thirty times – or more – per hour. Doctors have been studying sleep apnea for years and have come up with several options for treating sleep apnea. One option is the CPAP machine, which is sort of like an oxygen mask that covers your nose and mouth while you sleep providing you with pressurized oxygen.
Other options are surgery to clear blockages in your airway and/or an oral appliance used to open your airway, which is most often prescribed by dentists specializing in sleep disorders. There are also natural sleep supplements that have shown to be very effective in helping people overcome their sleep apnea symptoms.
Many patients who suffer from sleep apnea tend to be overweight, with a BMI of greater than 30. Often losing enough weight to put you below a BMI of 30 is enough to minimize the obstruction to increase your breathing, thus preventing sleep apnea from occurring. If you’re a smoker, you’ve probably heard this more than once – quit smoking. Aside from the many other health drawbacks smoking has, it affects your respiration, thus increasing sleep apnea.
Different medications can also be the culprit of your sleep apnea woes. In fact, if you are taking muscle relaxants, or medications that contain muscle relaxant agents, you could be increasing your risk for sleep apnea occurrences. Muscle relaxants cause the obstruction to ‘relax’ and fall into your airway.
This may also be true of some sleeping pills as well. Talk to your doctor about the medications you are taking. Similarly, avoid alcoholic beverages, as they relax your body and can induce sleep apnea events. It is important to ensure the alcohol is out of your system prior to lying down.
The position in which you sleep could also be inducing sleep apnea occurrences. It is recommended that you sleep partially sitting up, at an angle of approximately 30 degrees to prevent any obstruction from blocking your airway. This can be accomplished by adjusting your pillows. Also, try to avoid sleeping on your back. To keep obstructions from getting into your airway, it is best to sleep on your side. If you are prone to sleeping on your back, attach a ball to the back of your pajama shirt. Each time you roll over, the ball will make it uncomfortable, causing you to roll back onto your side. Eventually, sleeping on your side will become as natural as sleeping on your back once was.
The final two natural ways to help prevent sleep apnea involve exercise – sort of. The first is to practice the didgeridoo, which is a wind instrument developed by Indigenous Australians. Proven to work for many sleep apnea patients, using this instrument strengthens the mouth and throat muscles to the point where the obstruction does not even present in your sleep. Similarly, other mouth and tongue exercises, which strengthen these muscles can help reduce the occurrence of the obstruction, thus preventing sleep apnea.
Just by implementing some of these lifestyle changes, you can greatly reduce the symptoms of sleep apnea in a natural, non-invasive way. Sleep supplements, adjusted sleeping positions, and exercise are just a few of the ways you can take control of your health that are simple, affordable, and effective."
Reference: http://www.911healthshop.com