Sleep Apnea Treatment

Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that occurs when someone has stopped breathing for 10 seconds or more.  Sleep apnea can be caused by the brain not sending a signal to the breathing muscles to breathe, which is central sleep apnea, or obstructive sleep apnea which is when the airway has become obstructed by your tongue, enlarged tonsils, or a deviated septum.  Depending on the severity and which kind you have determines your treatment options.  If you have mild sleep apnea you may find a lot of improvement just by sleeping in a different position, occasionally obstructive sleep apnea only occurs while you are lying flat on your back.  Obesity is linked to sleep apnea; if someone were to lose 10% of their body weight they would see a lot of improvement.

Obstructive sleep apnea can sometimes be treated with medication, but because it is caused by a narrowed airway, medications don’t always work.  There are steroid nasal sprays to help with a deviated septum or topical nasal decongestants.  There are also dental implants that keep your tongue forward or continuous positive air pressure that delivers constant air to the nostrils through a mask.  For many people surgery may be the only answer to correct what may be obstructing the airway.

There are many different types of surgery that can help, but it depends on your severity of sleep apnea and your anatomy.  Surgery should not be considered your first option, every surgery comes with risks and many will require time off from work to heal.  Some risks from any surgery include infection, bleeding, scar tissue, pain, and change in voice.  Surgery is not guaranteed to work.  Surgery can be used to correct certain reasons for the obstructive sleep apnea such as: nose, obesity, palate, tongue and more.

Nasal airway surgery can improve your breathing through your nose if you have a deviated septum, nasal polyps, or swelling of the turbinates.  Nasal airway surgery can also improve the effectiveness of the mask that provides continuous positive air pressure.  If something is obstructing air in your nose, then the mask would be ineffective and uncomfortable.  Bariatric surgery can be effective in helping sleep apnea because obesity can be a cause.  Bariatric surgery is only an option for people who are morbidly obese with sleep apnea.  Palate implants can help patients with mild sleep apnea that is caused by the palate collapsing and obstructing the airway.  The palate implant stiffens the palate and prevents it from collapsing into the pharynx that causes the obstruction.  For some people with obstructive sleep apnea, the obstruction comes from the base of the tongue falling into the back of the throat.  To fix this problem they reduce the size of the base of the tongue.  This surgery is difficult because they don’t want to interfere with the basic operations of the tongue such as swallowing.  There are many surgeries to correct many different obstructions that cause sleep apnea, but always consider the risks.