Sleep Apnea Masks For Easier Breathing
Hiding from a medical condition is not the goal of sleep apnea masks, although they can help a person hide from a rough night trying to sleep. CPAP Machines or continuous positive airway pressure machines, are what the sleep apnea masks are supplied with, helping the person suffering from sleep apnea, breathe throughout the night. A person with sleep apnea may wake up hundreds of times during their normal sleep period and have no idea that it has happened. The masks are designed to provide continuous air to help stop them from waking up to breathe.
Many of the first generation sleep apnea masks were considered uncomfortable by patients and too many times they refused to wear them, regardless of the known consequences. These masks can help them breathe and keep their airway open, also diminishing the volume of their snoring. Some complain about the size and noise of the machines that provide the continuous airway pressure, but their bedmate has said they would gladly take the humming of the machine over their snoring any day.
Today, sleep apnea masks are available in many. more comfortable designs. Some of them are made to fit only over the person’s mouth, leaving the hose open for breathing. Other sleep apnea masks cover the entire mouth and nose, insuring their breathing is constant throughout the night.
Dental Devices Do Not Always Work For Everyone
There are some sleep apnea patients who can wear dental devices to keep their airway open while they sleep. For them, the device may be just as uncomfortable as the sleep apnea masks, but when they wake up refreshed in the morning, without a sore throat from snoring and with their bedmate in a better mood, they agree it is a good alternative.
Persons who travel frequently had to either carry their large, bulky machines with them if they were going to spend the night away from home, or simply go without it for the duration of their trip. In addition to new designs of the sleep apnea masks, smaller, more portable forced air machines allow them to be packed in their suitcase and rest on a table beside the bed in the hotel, or in a friend’s home.
The ability to breath throughout the night without the fear of losing oxygen to vital organs and not irritating others with vigorous, often exceptionally loud snoring, should be enough incentive for persons to get used to wearing sleep apnea masks when prescribed by their doctor.
Treatment For Sleep Apnea Including A Sleep Apnea Machine
There are many patients who suffer from sleep apnea and require help to breathe with some form of treatment, such as the use of CPAP machines. Sleep apnea occurs when breathing is interrupted by several different means. In one form of sleep apnea, a patient’s throat muscles relax and cause the airway to become tighter, preventing the air from flowing through easily. This type results in a patient waking up and then going back into a deep sleep, but allows for the throat to open back up during that wakeful period.
The another kind of sleep apnea has to do with the brain and the signals that it is sending to control breathing. These signals can get disturbed causing sleep apnea to occur. Again with this type, a person is awakened in order to re-set the breathing pattern. For these patients though, they do realize that they are waking up repeatedly throughout the night. Some patients even have a combination of the two types of sleep apnea.
There are treatments for sleep apnea and a doctor may suggest a sleep apnea machine that will help through the night.
A Sleep Apnea Machine
A sleep apnea machine may be suggested in order to help with this condition. There are several types of sleep apnea machines that can be used. A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure is one type of sleep apnea machine that is used. This sleep apnea machine is somewhat large, a mask is placed over the nose and oxygen is pumped through the mask at a steady rate. This pressure keeps the airway open and prevents sleep apnea from occurring.
Another type of sleep apnea treatment is an oral device, that is constructed to fit into a patient’s mouth pulling the jaw forward and preventing the throat from closing. This type of device is smaller and easier to use than the larger sleep apnea machine, but it can take some trial and error to make it work correctly.
No matter what type of sleep apnea device is suggested, don’t just stop using it if it is uncomfortable. Make sure you contact your physician if it is uncomfortable, before deciding to stop using it. Sleep apnea can be treated, if non-surgical means are not working, then it may be time to consider surgery. Surgery may be needed if a patient has an obstruction in their airway.
Sleep apnea can be a serious condition and should be evaluated by a physician to find the right course of treatment for a patient.
