Sleep Apnea - 7 Tips To Improve Your Sleep

Sleep Apnea - 7 Tips To Improve Your Sleep

- By Donald Saunders

(c) Donald Saunders All Rights Reserved
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Do you keep your partner awake at night with your snoring?
Are you often tired during the day? Do you sometimes find
yourself suffering from morning headaches, being a bit
forgetful, unable to concentrate and irritable? If so, you
may be suffering from sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a very common and often undiagnosed sleep
disorder that, according to some estimates, affects five
percent of the adult population. Characterized in
particular by loud snoring and daytime tiredness, sleep
apnea occurs because you stop breathing during sleep. This
can occur literally hundreds of times each night and your
breathing can be interrupted by up to a minute or more on
each occasion.

Your breathing is interrupted either by a physical blockage
to your airway (for example, loose skin in the back of your
throat, or perhaps your tongue, blocking your airway), in
which case you are said to suffer from obstructive sleep
apnea, or by a failure on the part of your brain to send out
the necessary signals to the muscles of your body that
control breathing, in which event your condition is
described as central sleep apnea.

It is also possible to suffer from mixed sleep apnea which,
as the name suggests, is a combination of both obstructive
sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

Both men and women suffer from sleep apnea, although the
condition is more commonly seen in men and, in particular,
men who are over 40 and overweight.

The main consequence of sleep apnea is that, because your
sleep is very light, fragmented and of poor quality, you
also suffer from insomnia, or excessive daytime tiredness.
Your partner would probably disagree and say that the main
problem is your snoring, but that's a different story!

There are a range of treatments available for sleep apnea
(including surgery in particularly severe cases), but in the
vast majority of cases your quality of life can be improved
considerably with a few simple lifestyle changes and natural
remedies. Indeed, in mild cases, this is often all that is
needed.

Here are 7 simple tips to offset the effects of sleep apnea
related insomnia and restore some of that lost daytime `get
up and go'.

Tip 1. Look at your weight.

If you're overweight then this is undoubtedly contributing
to your problem. Losing just a few pounds can make a
significant difference.

Tip 2. Avoid alcohol.

Alcohol relaxes your throat muscles and this makes it much
easier for these muscles to `collapse' during sleep and
block your airway. There's no need to cut out alcohol
altogether, but you should restrict your intake and
certainly cut out alcohol in the three or four hours before
going to bed.

Tip 3. Avoid sleeping pills.

Sleeping pills can also relax your throat muscles and cause
similar problems to those seen for alcohol. Sleeping pills,
however, can also cause a variety of other problems as well
and there use is not recommended in cases of sleep apnea.

Tip 4. Avoid tobacco.

Smoking inflames your nasal tissues causing them to swell
and restrict your nasal airway. Ideally, you should give up
smoking altogether but, if this is too high a fence to jump,
then try to cut down and, in particular, reduce your smoking
during the evening.

Tip 5. Sleep on your side.

If you're typical of the majority of sleep apnea sufferers
you sleep on your back, making it far easier for the tissues
in your throat, and for your tongue, to block your airway.
Even if you go to sleep on your side, you probably roll onto
your back shortly after falling asleep.

Try propping yourself up with pillows or cushions so that
you sleep on your side. If this doesn't work then sew
something like a tennis ball into the back of your pajamas.
You'll find that rolling onto the tennis ball will be quite
uncomfortable and it will soon condition you to sleep on
your side.

If you can't sew, find a shirt or tee-shirt with a breast
pocket. Pop the tennis ball into the pocket and then wear
the shirt back-to-front.

Tip 6. Improve your nasal breathing.

If you suffer from a `stuffed up' nose, then try using a
nasal spray to help open up your nasal airway. Nasal sprays
should not however be used regularly or for prolonged
periods, as they can cause damage to the tissues of the
nose.

As an alternative, pop along to the drug store or chemist
and buy yourself one of many very cheap devices that are
available today to help keep your nose open while you sleep.
Your pharmacist or chemist will be happy to show you what's
on offer and to help you to make the right choice.

Tip 7. Avoid sleep deprivation.

Make sure that you are getting enough sleep and that you're
following a regular bedtime routine. Also make sure that
your bedroom conditions are set for sleep (the right
temperature, quiet, dark etc.) and that you've dealt with
the worries of the day and are relaxed and ready for sleep
each night.

One of the major consequences of both obstructive sleep
apnea and central sleep apnea is insomnia, and curing the
insomnia associated with sleep apnea is a major step in the
management of the condition.

These are just a few simple tips but you'll be amazed at
just what a difference they can make. Donald Saunders is the author of a number of health related
publications including: "How To Get A Good Night's Sleep -
Simple Solutions To Help You Rest"
Pick up your free copy today at
http://help-me-to-sleep.com/sleep-apnea/


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