Snoring complications

After a long hard day at work, all you can think of is getting home, getting all cozy and  snooze away the fatigue. However, just about when you are about o fall asleep and dream of a better job, your partner starts to saw logs. First the snoring is soft and you think you might still be able to nod off, but then it gets louder and louder until there seems to be a boisterous  crew of lumberjacks razing a forest within your hubby’s mouth. Sleep has now become impossible an impossible dream.

While bad for your partner, being a snorer comes with its own set of troubles. You may face the morning stink eye from your loved ones who were kept up all night. People might find reasons not to the stay the night and you might find yourself without a invite to the ski lodge because no one wants to bunk with you. More importantly, your relationship suffers.  Your hubby might opt to sleep in a separate room or the tension might get so bad that you might even wind up find yourself being served divorce papers.

On top of the relationship trouble that it causes, snoring can also be a sign of a serious medical problem that need to be addressed. Snoring not only deprives your partner of sleep, it also leaves the snorer without a good night’s sleep leading to fatigue and tiredness throughout the next day. Snoring can also lead to a potentially deadly condition known as sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is a condition that characterized by loud snoring frequently intermitted by episodes of obstructed breathing. This condition can be fatal since the oxygen levels  in the body fall, forcing the heart to pump harder to in order to meet the oxygen demands of his body. Sleep Apnea  can lead to adverse medical complications including diabetes and heart diseases like high blood pressure and can even lead to a stroke or heart attack. People have died because of sleep apnea and  medical intervention is a necessity if you are diagnosed.

Seeking Advice

Habitual snoring should not be treated lightly and people who suffer from it should seek advice from a doctor to eliminate the possibility of sleep apnea. If they that you may have the condition, they may send you to a ear, nose and throat doctor, or even a sleep specialist to further gauge your problem. They might put you and your partner through series of interviews and may even do a sleeping analysis  to find out the severity of your problem.

TO help with snoring and eliminate your chances of developing sleep apnea, a doctor might recommend some lifestyle changes.  If you are overweight, try to trim down through diet and exercise. Avoiding caffeine, quitting smoke and not drinking alcohol before bedtime are also advised as are certain medications such as tranquilizers, sleeping pills and antihistamines. . A doctor might also recommend some changes in how you sleep suggesting that you sleep on your side instead of lying flat on your back.

Other measures

If employing these lifestyle changes do not work than the doctor might try some other techniques and treatments….

• Oral appliances: Dental mouthpieces can be used to keep your air passages opened as you sleep eliminating the flapping skin that is causing the snoring. You may need to get the mouth piece fitted by a specialist at least once a year.
• Surgery: You can go under the knife and get a Ovulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) which involves tightening the tissues of the throat and palate through a thermal ablation palatoplasty (TAP). TAP procedures include a  bipolar cautery, laser treatment and radiofrequency ablation.  Another surgery available is a genioglossus and hyoid advancement which involves pulling the tongue muscles forward. This keeps the lower throat from collapsing.
• A sleep mask: if surgery is too risky in your case, you may be required to use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) mask. This nasal mask induces air pressure on the throat which prevent obstructions in your airway, stopping snoring and keeping your breathing steady.