What Are The Sleep Apnea Tests?

If you think that you suffer from sleep apnea, there are a number of sleep apnea tests that your health care professional might recommend for you when determining a diagnosis. You should know that lots of people suffer from this condition and it’s important to have it diagnosed so that you can avoid any adverse effects of sleep apnea. You will likely find that once you undergo the necessary tests, however, you can begin a treatment that works for you and get back to sleeping well.

Polysomnography

This is a long word for one of the most common sleep apnea tests available to you. This test records brain activity and your heart rate and the lung function while you are sleeping. It will also take note of any movements that your eyes, arms and legs make throughout the night as well as record your oxygen levels and breathing patterns. This is used to test for sleep apnea and other sleep disorders that a person might experience.

Oximetry

This test monitors the oxygen in the blood. Usually, this test is done at home while you sleep and the patient uses a finger sleeve to test for blood oxygen level. Lower oxygen means a higher likelihood of sleep apnea. While this is a common test, it is usually used in conjunction with polysomnography to confirm the oximetry results.

Multiple Sleep Latency Test or MSLT

This is usually used to test the cause of daytime sleepiness and it measures how fast a person falls asleep by letting him sleep during the day. When a person doesn’t have a sleep disorder such as sleep apnea, it will usually take about 10 to 20 minutes to fall asleep, but for those who are suffering from a sleep disorder will likely fall asleep in less than 5 minutes.

Portable Cardiorespiratory Tests

This is one sleep apnea test that can be done at home and it measures the airflow and breathing patterns of a patient. These tests usually aren’t performed without a sleep evaluation and the supervision of a physician, however and they are usually done in conjunction with one or more of the other tests available.

If you think you suffer from sleep apnea, it is likely that you will have to take one or more of these tests to determine whether or not you have the condition and the severity of it and determine a form of treatment for your condition. The good news is that these tests are available for anyone and they don’t hurt at all, so if you think that you might have sleep apnea, it’s good to know that there are tests which can help you to diagnose your problem so that you can begin sleeping well again.