Obstructive sleep apnea is a common disorder that causes frequent pauses in breathing while sleeping. The soft tissues in the back of the mouth and throat collapse to block the upper airway. This results in frequent breathing disruptions that can have potentially deadly complications. Believe it or not, exercise can be a solution to prevent and manage sleep apnea. Here’s how taking a walk can improve your health and help you sleep better.

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Quality sleep is vital for your physical and mental health; however, if your partner snores, it can keep both of you tossing and turning at night. You don’t have to sleep in another room or struggle with daytime fatigue. You can give the gift of snore-less sleep and better health to your loved one with an oral appliance. Although everyone snores occasionally, chronic snoring can be a sign of an untreated sleep disorder that can increase your partner’s risk of many health concerns, including heart attacks and strokes. Here’s how an oral appliance can improve their health and quality of life, so you both can sleep peacefully.

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If you often experience facial soreness or occasionally have trouble opening and closing your mouth, you might have a problem with the TMJ (temporomandibular joint) that connects your lower jaw to the rest of your skull. A TMJ disorder can occur for any number of reasons, but you might be surprised to learn that in many cases, it’s connected to a sleep disorder. The following post explores the often-overlooked connection between TMJ and sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a serious condition that causes you to lose sleep night after night. Over time, that sleep deficit can have seriously negative impacts on your overall health – like increasing your risk of heart disease and diabetes as well as making it more likely that you will experience a serious car accident. Treatment is available for sleep apnea, but do you really need to seek professional help? In most cases, the answer is yes – but keep reading to learn about some ways that you can lessen the effects of sleep apnea, and how to know when treatment is right. 

What Is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a condition that is characterized by the collapse of soft tissues in the mouth and throat during sleep. The collapse blocks the proper flow of air, causing the sufferer to briefly wake in order to resume breathing. Loud, chronic snoring is also common. A person with this condition may wake up hundreds of times per night without realizing it. All that they may notice is a groggy, fatigued feeling the next day – and every day after that. 

Tips to Improve Sleep Apnea

If you have sleep apnea, there are several things you can do to improve the condition. They include:

• Losing weight: If you are overweight or have obesity, then one of the best things you can do to improve your sleep is to lose weight. Extra fat around the neck makes it more likely the tissues will collapse, causing the interruptions in breathing and sleep.
• Avoiding alcohol: That glass of wine or cocktail before bed doesn’t just help you feel calmer mentally – it also physically relaxes your muscles, reducing their ability to remain engaged to facilitate breathing throughout the night. Thus, people with sleep apnea often note their symptoms improve when they cut out alcohol. 
• Try side-sleeping: It could be that your symptoms improve just by adjusting your sleeping position. Avoid sleeping on your back for a few nights to see if you can regain better rest – this position greatly increases the chances of snoring and disrupted sleep because it puts pressure on the airway.

Do You Need Professional Treatment?

If you try the above tips and still can’t seem to regain your restful eight hours, then it may be time to reach out to a professional for diagnosis and treatment. Today’s solutions to sleep apnea, like oral appliance therapy, are more convenient and effective than ever.  

You deserve to enjoy all the benefits of a great night’s sleep every night! Don’t wait for sleep apnea to go away on its own – get started with a professional today.

Meet the Dentist

Dr. Keane Fedosky is a highly experienced general dentist and is also a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine. As such, he is the expert to turn to for help with snoring and sleep apnea. Dr. Fedosky and his team offer a range of treatments, including oral appliance therapy. To learn more about your options, contact Sleep Rehab & TMJ Treatment by phone at (972) 753-3737.

Many people think of dentists as strictly experts in teeth and gums. However, they have specialized skills and knowledge to treat all sorts of problems involving the mouth, including jaw problems. If you are suffering from persistent jaw pain, you could have temporomandibular joint disorder, also known as TMJ. Your first instinct might be to contact a doctor. However, your dentist may actually be the professional best equipped to provide relief. Keep reading to learn why you should turn to a dentist for TMJ pain.

Your temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is the most important joint in your whole body; it’s what allows you to move and control your jaw so you can bite, chew, speak, and more. Most people don’t think twice about these daily movements—that is, until they experience jaw pain! But did you know that if you have migraines, they might be the result of TMJ disorder? However, neither of these things are chronic issues that you should have to live with. Here’s more from your sleep dentist about the connection between migraines and TMJ dysfunction.

If you’ve recently been diagnosed with sleep apnea, you’ve probably received some nifty new mouth gear as part of your treatment! But even though this solution is incredibly helpful for patients who struggle to get a good night’s rest, you might be having some difficulties with the adjustment process. There’s nothing to worry about, though—it can take time for your body to get used to a new oral appliance. But once it does, you’ll immediately notice a difference in the quality of your sleep. Here’s what you need to know about oral appliances so you can better adjust to yours.

Isabel, a hard-working parent of three kids found herself in the office of Dr. Fedosky at Sleep Rehab after many long days of daytime exhaustion. She came to her wit’s end with just barely making it through the day. Like you may be experiencing, Isabel woke up not feeling rested and had to trudge through the day regardless of her fatigue. Frustrated and tired with a full plate of responsibilities, she knew there had to be a solution.

“As soon as I woke up, I would be sleepy within an hour. I was drinking fifteen cups of coffee a day… two to four Cokes a day,” Isabel recalls.

So, what do you do when you’re so chronically exhausted that no amount of caffeine can? This is where Sleep Rehab stepped in to create a life-changing solution for Isabel.

“I heard about Sleep Rehab online as I was Googling different doctors in my area,” Isabel said.

After a consultation with Dr. Fedosky and the Sleep Rehab team, several options were presented and a plan was constructed to combat this daytime sleepiness once and for all so she could be fully present for her kids and family.

“The difference between now and before is that I definitely have more energy. I just feel a lot better, I’m sleeping. I’m starting to get a little bit more active, whereas before I didn’t have any energy to do any kind of walking or working out, or anything, much less cooking.”

A common complaint with patients suffering from Sleep Rehab is a lack of energy to tackle everyday tasks like walking the dog or going grocery shopping.

I can focus better and I can do those things for my family and I feel good about it.”

Thank you, Isabel, for trusting Sleep Apnea and finding us to improve your life and wellbeing. We invite you to watch Isabel’s full testimonial below and contact Sleep Rehab for all of your sleep needs!