“Your snoring and gasping for air keeps waking me up….I’m sleeping in a different room from you.”
“I’m exhausted even in the morning and it is hard to focus because I’m irritable and distracted.”

Are you worried about your marriage because your spouse wants to sleep in a different room? Do you feel lethargic even with a full night’s sleep? Then an obstructive sleep apnea screening is something that may help.

Oral Sleep Apnea Screenings, Sleep Studies, and Obstructive Sleep Apnea Devices

90% of people who have had a stroke also had obstructive sleep apnea. It is not restricted to the senior population. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is when the airway collapses on itself, causing breathing to stop while sleeping. Typically, there will be a loud snort as the person uses extra energy to force air through the just-closed airway and this awful gasp for air is often heard by a bed partner who sleeps lightly. This can create disturbed sleep for two people and serious problems in the relationship.

In addition to the loud snoring, the disturbed sleep pattern often makes the person feel more exhausted and sleepy during the daytime and have difficulty concentrating. This can be particularly dangerous when the person is working or driving. Irritability and depression are common feelings that a person with OSA has since the body could not have undisturbed sleep at night.

OSA screenings can help to determine whether a sleep study should be done. Sleep studies can be done at a sleep center or at home. They record the things that happen when the person sleeps in order to know the severity of the OSA. The traditional CPAP machine is effective but is intolerable by many that try it. For mild to moderate OSA, oral appliances can help and be effective in opening the airway. This is done by either protruding the mandible or by protruding the tongue. Sometimes medical insurance plans will cover for some of the cost of the device; sometimes they do not, but that’s a different topic. Oral appliances are less constricting than the CPAP machine.

There are different designs for these devices, and the evaluation is the time when information is gathered to confirm eligibility and if so, the design most likely to help is chosen.

• You are at your wits’ end because your partner or someone you know is grumpy, sleepy, and just overall hard to live with.
• There was a car accident because someone fell asleep at the wheel.
• You are wondering if things can change.
• You think there may be a chance you have OSA.

Call 610.644.8815 to talk about how you can get your life back. We are here to help.

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