Sleep Apnea Prevention Tips

Sleep apnea is a terrible sleep disorder which can have some very negative effects on your health and your quality of life.

Sleep apnea can strike at any age, and it is a degenerative condition that will become more serious over time if left untreated.

There are some things that you can do to lower your risk of sleep apnea; if you are high in risk factors, you may be setting yourself up for a terrible sleep disorder. The following are the various methods that people use to keep their risk factor for sleep apnea down.

• Using depressants such as alcohol or sleeping pills definitely weighs into a person’s chance of contracting sleep apnea. Alcohol and sleeping pills cause the muscles of the body to relax; this behavior includes the muscles found in the throat, and when they are relaxed, an air way obstruction can occur. For that reason, if you must drink, it is important to have your last beverage at least 4 hours before you go to bed. This gives your body a chance to process the alcohol in your system, leading to a lessened chance of snoring and apnea when bed time comes.
• Keeping in shape is of utmost importance. One of the main causes of sleep apnea is an excess of fatty tissue in the neck caused by being obese. This tissue can weigh down on the esophagus, causing an obstruction of the air way and consequently a case of sleep apnea. One way of diagnosing your need for fitness is to measure the circumference of your neck. If you find your neck to be in excess of 17 inches, a significant risk of contracting sleep apnea is present.
• Some people that have sleep apnea only experience the problem when they are lying on their backs at night. To remedy this problem, a simple home project can be assembled to keep you sleeping on your side. Put a tennis ball on the inside of a regular sock, and pin it to the back of your pajama pants. When you roll onto your back in your sleep, you will be uncomfortable due to the tennis ball, and you will unconsciously correct yourself, causing you to roll back onto your side.

• Smoking is another reason that people may contract sleep apnea. A person that commonly smokes usually has an increased amount of inflammation in the throat. Also, fluid retention in the upper air way is increased by a smoking habit. Both of these factors can add up to serious obstruction of the air way.

These are just some of the things to do when trying to avoid a sleep apnea condition. There are many other factors that weigh into sleep apnea, and some, such as a narrow air way or old age, are unpreventable.

For that reason, it is significant to get a proper diagnosis if you suspect that you may have sleep apnea. To get a proper opinion, speak to a health care professional.