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Sleep Apnea

There are a range of causes, types, and levels of severity, but one thing is true across the board - sleep apnea can be destructive not just to your airway health but your overall health!

What is sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea is a very common dysfunction wherein breathing stops and starts during sleep, sometimes upwards of 30 times in a hour. 

What are the types of sleep apnea?

  • Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) - by far the most common, this type of apnea occurs when the muscles of the throat relax to the point of narrowing or obstructing the airway. The resulting lack of airflow causes the apneic events where you stop breathing and the brain has to wake you sufficiently to start again.

  • Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) - in this rarer type of apnea, your brain fails to send the correct signals to your breathing muscles, leading to apneic events.  

  • Complex sleep apnea syndrome - combines features of OSA and CSA

How do I know if I have sleep apnea?

There are several symptoms that might indicate you suffer from sleep apnea:

  • Loud snoring

  • Restlessness during sleep

  • Gasping or choking during sleep

  • Dry mouth or sore throat upon waking

  • Daytime fatigue

  • Night sweats

  • Headaches

  • Depression

  • High blood pressure

A sleep test in conjunction with our comprehensive airway evaluation can help determine if sleep apnea is the cause of your symptoms. 

Why is sleep apnea bad for my health?

Sleep is essential to health. When our sleep suffers, our body does not get appropriate time to restore the critical functions that it needs to survive. Sleep Apnea has been linked to heart problems, type 2 diabetes, liver complications, and issues with medications and surgery, among other diseases.

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