Sleep Apnea Treatment

Doctors may recommend changes to your current lifestyle, such as quitting smoking or losing weight for mild sleep apnea cases.

If the sleep apnea do not improve after these lifestyle changes are taken, a number of treatments are available.
Blocked passage airway can be opened by certain devices.
In more severe cases, surgery is necessary. Listed below are some of the treatments available.

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Obstructive sleep apnea treatment:

Continuous positive airway pressure .
Are you suffering from moderate to severe sleep apnea? Wear a mask over your nose when you sleep. Air pressure, which is greater than the surrounding air, is delivered from an equipment - CPAP (SEE-pap) through the mask. It keeps the upper passage airway open, thus prevents apnea and snoring.

- Adjustable airway pressure devices.
Use a different airway pressure device if CPAP is unsuitable for you. Adjustable airway pressure device adjusts the pressure automatically while you are sleeping. It supplies bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP), and provides more pressure when inhaled, and less pressure when exhaled.

- Oral appliances
Another sleep apnea treatment is by wearing an oral appliance such as sleep apnea mouthpiece which is designed to keep the throat open. Although CPAP as mentioned above is more effective than using oral appliances, oral appliances is easier to use. By bringing the jaw forward, oral appliances are designed to open the throat, thus relieving mild obstructive sleep apnea and snoring.

- Surgery
Surgery removes the excess tissue from the throat or nose that vibrates and causes snoring. Surgery also removes upper air passage blockages that causes sleep apnea. There are several surgical options.

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) - Doctors remove tissues from the rear of the mouth and the throat, adenoids, and tonsils. This surgery is successful in preventing throat structures vibration which causes snoring. However, this may be less successful in treating sleep apnea totally because the air passage may still be blocked by the tissue farther down the throat. This type of surgery is usually performed in a hospital and general anesthetic is required.

Maxillomandibular advancement – This is a surgical procedure where the upper and lower jaw is moved forward from the face bones. This causes the space behind the soft palate and tongue to enlarge, and thus less obstruction. It may require an orthodontist and oral surgeon to work together. This procedure may be combined with another procedure to improve the chances of success.

Tracheostomy - This type of surgery may be required if other treatments have failed to prevent the severe and life-threatening sleep apnea. The surgeon makes an opening in the neck so that a plastic tube or metal could be inserted for you to breathe through. The opening is covered during the day, and uncovered at night to allow the air to pass through the lungs. This bypasses the blocked air passage in the throat.

Laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty or radiofrequency energy are some of the procedures that doctors may use to remove tissues in the back of the throat to treat snoring. Other types of surgery, such as nasal surgery to straighten a crooked partition between your nostrils or removal of polyps, enlarged tonsils or adenoids, may help reduce snoring by enlarging or clearing air passages.

The above surgical procedures are not recommended as sole treatments. They are sometimes combined with other procedures for best results.

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external links
mayoclinic: Sleep apnea treatment