Can Mild Sleep Apnea Disappear By Itself?
Sleep apnea is a chronic sleep-related disorder categorized as mild, moderate, or severe after diagnosis. If you are affected by mild sleep apnea, you experience fewer breathing interruptions than people with severe obstructive sleep apnea.
Mild sleep apnea also requires treatment with other problems like high blood pressure or stroke. Seeking treatment from our dentist in 53719 makes different options for addressing the issue available.
Mild Sleep Apnea Explained
People with severe obstructive sleep apnea experience repeated blockages of the airway and disrupted breathing when sleeping. Diagnosis of mild sleep apnea indicates you experience fewer interruptions when breathing in every hour of sleep than people with moderate or severe sleep apnea.
The definition of mild sleep apnea has 5 to 15 breath holding or shallow breaths every hour. The term mild merely refers to the number of breaths but doesn’t mean that you have minimal symptoms. The medical professional will discuss whether the symptoms require treatment if you seek mild sleep apnea treatment. The treatment for this condition largely depends on other comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes, stroke, et cetera.
Treatment Options for Mild Sleep Apnea
The standard treatment option for moderate and severe sleep apnea is CPAP therapy, but it isn’t the only remedy. Oral appliance therapy pioneered by dentists to push the lower jaw forward also helps treat obstructive sleep apnea.
Nasal expiratory positive airway pressure consisting of one valve placed over the nostrils with adhesives within the nose with a nasal dilator is another treatment option for mild sleep apnea. When you breathe in, it helps open the valve. However, when breathing out, the valve shuts almost all the way to trap the air in the airway.
Does Mild Sleep Apnea Ever Disappear?
Mild sleep apnea will likely not disappear by itself without help from you. Medical professionals recommend making lifestyle changes to help you manage mild sleep apnea. However, any recommendations made by dentists or physicians will require you to get yourself diagnosed with sleep apnea by a sleep medicine specialist.
Diagnosing sleep apnea of any severity will require a polysomnography test performed in a sleep clinic. Wires and tubes are attached to your body when sleeping overnight at the sleep clinic. If the sleep medicine specialist confirms your diagnosis positively, dentists might recommend oral appliance therapy and lifestyle changes simultaneously to reduce sleep apnea symptoms.
The lifestyle changes suggested by the dentist might include losing weight, exercising regularly, quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol and sedatives, and sleeping on your sides instead of your back or stomach.
The dentist recommends not sleeping on your back as a technique to manage mild sleep apnea. Sleeping on your back encourages gravity to push your tongue downward in your mouth to cause airway blockages that interrupt your sleep. Therefore dentists recommend sleeping on the left side as beneficial to manage the symptoms. In addition, if you receive oral appliance therapy, you must ensure you wear the device every night before sleeping in your mouth.
Oral appliance therapy pushes your lower jaw forward to open your airway and prevent blockages. The device allows you to have a good night’s rest and give your partner the uninterrupted sleep they need, which gets affected by your snoring and gasping when you leave sleep apnea untreated.
Sleep apnea of any severity besides interrupting your sleep also causes various problems that cause you to remain sleepy during the day, dizziness and irritation at work, and loss of concentration with work or school. In addition, it makes you prone to accidents when operating vehicles or machinery.
In addition, sleep apnea also causes your blood pressure to rise, making you susceptible to cardiovascular disease, stroke, et cetera. With time untreated mild sleep apnea can progress to moderate or severe, making it challenging for you and your partner to get a good night’s rest.
Therefore the better option if you suspect you might have sleep apnea, is to visit your dentist or physician to get yourself diagnosed and not let the condition adversely impact your physical and emotional well-being. Sleep testing helps get the answers you need to receive treatment for the situation. Therefore please do not leave sleep apnea untreated but receive treatment for the condition as soon as possible.
Madison Lakes Dental provides treatment for sleep apnea of different severity. Please get yourself diagnosed today by this practice if you suspect you have sleep apnea.