5 Methods to Overcoming Sleep Apnea
While sleep apnea can be potentially dangerous there are treatments and was to overcome either with or without a sleep apnea machine or one of the types of cpap masks. While the machine is beneficial and can be prescribed by a doctor after a series of sleep studies, cpap replacement parts are not cheap sleeping with all that head gear can be uncomfortable. If you are truly dedicated to getting better, there may be a few things that you can do to facilitate that. Here are a few ways that you might be able to overcome sleep apnea without having to use the breathing machines.
Lose Weight
If you are overweight and think you may have sleep apnea, it may be because of the pressure that falls on the muscles in the back of your throat, causing them to collapse when your throat relaxes. If you lose weight, you may find that you have less interrupted sleep and decreased snoring. Losing weight could also help with any heartburn that you may experience when trying to sleep.
Stop Smoking
Smoking reeks havoc on your throat, as well as many other areas of your body. It weakens the muscles which support your throat and help you breathe. If you can stop smoking, your body will begin rebuilding those muscles that have been destroyed previously and it should only be a few months before the sleep apnea gets better. Once that muscle begins to get stronger, that’s when you will see results. So, it just depends on how consistent you are with quitting.
Avoid Sedatives
Sleeping pills and sedatives may feel like they’re needed because you are always tired from not getting enough sleep at night but they can actually make it worse. If you take a sleeping pill or sedative before bed, or even drink alcohol, it can cause those muscles to relax and enhance the collapsing throat which increased sleep apnea, in stead of helping get a good nights rest.
Daily Exercise
Exercising opens up the throat and lungs and helps you to breathe easier and better. If you do not exercise, chances are your lungs and throat do not get much opportunity to work and you may just end up having to invest in the cpap replacement parts that you wanted to avoid. Daily exercise will also benefit you in many other ways, also, not just with sleep apnea. Once you start exercising regularly, you will see a huge different in your level of quality of life.
Throat Exercises
There are some throat and tongue exercises that you can do that could help the severity of sleep apnea. This is because they strengthen that muscle in the airway and help them not to collapse when you lay down. It may be awhile before you see a difference but just like any other muscle, your throat muscles need to be exercised in order to grow stronger and work properly. If you’d like to avoid cpap machine and cpap replacement parts then give these exercises a shot:
- Sing- singing increases muscle control.
- Brush- flatten your tongue and brush the top and sides fives times, three times a day.
- Hold- hold the length of your tongue to the roof of your mouth for three minutes daily.
- Resist- push your finger against the inside of your cheek and pull your cheek muscle simultaneously. Repeat this 10 times a day.
- Kiss- purse your lips together tightly and move them up and to the right and then to the left 10 times, three times a day.
- Blow- blow up a balloon by taking the air through your nose and letting it out in as long as breaths as possible.
- Gargle- gargle with water for five minutes, two times per day.
- Swallow- hold your tongue between your teeth and swallow fives times a day.
If you can follow these ideas for overcoming sleep apnea you may begin to see some changes in your lifestyle that are very positive. While cpap machines can be very useful and needed in some cases, if you can avoid it at all, then that is what is advised. Cpap replacement parts and masks and tubes and what not, do not make for a very comfortable sleeping arrangement for you and if your significant other is a light sleeper, the machines can be a little loud.
