What Is Sleep Apnea and What Are Some of the Ways for Treating It?

There are two types of sleep apnea with obstructive sleep apnea being by far the most common type. In obstructive sleep apnea, the tissues in the back of the throat collapse into the airway and make it hard for the patient to breathe.

What Are the Symptoms?
Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea often include loud snoring and choking or gasping sounds. The patient momentarily stops breathing while asleep, which causes them to wake up. Patients with obstructive sleep apnea thus sleep poorly and display many of the problems associated with poor sleep like irritability or difficulty concentrating.

How Is Sleep Apnea Treated?
There are many types of sleep apnea treatment in north Vancouver. They include oral appliances, positional therapy, diet, and CPAP. Oral appliances look like mouthguards and push the tongue and lower jaw forward to keep the airway open. In the process, they also stop the patient from snoring.

CPAP stands for “continuous positive airway pressure,” and it describes a machine that helps the patient breathe while sleeping. The patient will wear a mask connected to the machine which will increase air pressure by blowing air down the patient’s throat. The increased air pressure will keep the airway open.

What Is SnoreLase?
SnoreLase is a minimally invasive procedure in which the doctor will use a laser to heat tissues around the sides and back of the throat. That heat will stimulate the production of collagen that will tighten and stimulate the tissues around the throat so they won’t collapse into the airway.

Most patients will need a series of five treatments administered over a half-year period. They will generally start to see results about half-way through the treatment. Patients will not need anesthesia during treatment. SnoreLase can reduce or eliminate snoring and improve a patient’s sleep.

Contact CanSleep Services Inc. or visit cansleep.ca to learn more about sleep apnea treatment in north Vancouver.