Research indicates that up to ninety percent of people who suffer from snoring sleep apnea are not aware that they have it. In many cases, it is a partner who first notices that the snorer is struggling to breathe while sleeping.
Because sleep apnea may become life threatening it requires diagnosis and treatment. Sleep apnea and snoring are different conditions in that snoring on its own involves making loud noises that are a result of vibrations occurring in the throat during asleep. Snoring usually accompanies sleep apnea, which causes the sufferer to stop breathing – often up to several hundred times a night – during sleep.
Warning Signs and Symptoms of Sleep Apnea
Indications of snoring sleep apnea include frequently stopping breathing during sleep, followed by choking or gasping for breath in order to fill the lungs with air. Symptoms can include loud snoring, suddenly wakening in order to start breathing once again, waking up in a sweat at night, constantly feeling lethargic and tired during the day even after a night of sleep, headaches, sore throats or dry mouth in the morning upon waking, lethargy, rapid gain in weight, memory loss and difficulties in learning.
Sleep apnea can be divided into three types: obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and mixed sleep apnea. Though sleep apnea and snoring are different they can often be treated with the same stop snoring aids.
The cause of snoring is vibrations of the tissue in the throat when it relaxed during sleep. In itself, snoring is not dangerous, however, the cause must be identified to confirm whether or not the snorer is suffering from sleep apnea.
Treatments for snoring include stop snoring aids such as the stop snoring pillow, mandibular advancement devices, snoring chin strap and nasal dilators. More recently some people have turned to surgery to stop snoring although statistics indicate that surgery for snoring has a success rate as low as 40% and some patients require several treatments. Many patients report severe post operative pain following snoring surgery. Laser surgery for snoring can be performed under local anesthetic and has a quicker recovery time than traditional surgery for snoring.
A CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine is very effective in treating snoring sleep apnea. The CPAP machine forces air at gentle pressure into the airway while the patient is sleeping.
Other option include diathermy palatal reduction that is an office procedure effective for both for sleep apnea and snoring, surgical straightening of the septum, which works well for people who breathe through the mouth due to a deviated septum, removal of tonsils and/or enlarged adenoids. Snoreplasty, which involves injecting sclerosing agents into the palate is only considered useful for snoring patients.
One single option may not be the answer for sleep apnea snoring patients and sometimes more than one remedy may be required to effectively reduce snoring and prevent sleep apnea.
