Getting a full night’s sleep not only makes you feel great, but it boosts your immune system and improves several aspects of your overall health. Unfortunately, if you have a condition like obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), like approximately 25 million Americans do, you’re achieving the quality sleep you deserve. In addition, more than three times that number snore, which can impact sleep quality as well. At LaGrange Oral Surgery & Implant Center, we offer treatment to help you wake up every morning feeling fully rested and ready to face the day. Keep reading below to learn how we can treat sleep apnea in LaGrange.
When someone has sleep apnea, they experience pauses in breathing while sleeping. The body then goes into “panic mode,” forcing you to wake up so that you can properly take in the air you need. If this occurs several times a night, it can prevent you from settling into the deep stages of sleep you need to feel well-rested.
OSA, the most common form of sleep apnea, is the result of soft tissues in the back of the mouth and throat collapsing during the night, blocking your airway. In some cases, these blockages can happen dozens of times an hour, often without your even realizing what’s going on or why you wake up still tired. In other cases, you may remember waking up in the middle of the night gasping or out of breath.
The sound that snoring produces is made by the soft tissues in your throat vibrating as air passes by them during breathing. It typically indicates that air is having a difficult time passing through your throat. About half of all people who snore eventually develop OSA as a result of this difficulty.
Here are some of the most common signs of OSA:
The most common way we can treat OSA is with a custom-made oral appliance. We take impressions of your mouth to create a comfortable plastic tray that you wear over your teeth. This device gently repositions your jaw to allow air to pass through it more easily, drastically reducing the likelihood that you’ll snore and have difficulty breathing during the night. Oral appliance therapy is an excellent alternative to using a CPAP machine, which many patients dislike because it can be loud and cumbersome to wear.
If your OSA is more severe and simply wearing an oral appliance doesn’t work, we may recommend one of the following surgeries:
This procedure partially removes the soft tissue at the back of the throat so that it doesn’t obstruct your airway.
The hyoid bone is located above the thyroid cartilage, also known as the Adam’s apple. This procedure secures the hyoid bone to the thyroid cartilage, which stabilizes the airway.
This procedure tightens the front tendon of the tongue, reducing the likelihood that it will relax and block your airway during the night. Often, a GGA is performed in tandem with another, such as a UPPP.
During this procedure, we surgically position both the upper and lower jaws forward, as well as the palate and tongue. This opens the upper airway and is often the only treatment that can create the necessary passageway through which air can sufficiently travel.
Are you or your partner tired of suffering through snoring in LaGrange? Give us a call today to schedule your consultation for sleep apnea treatment. We can’t wait to help you achieve a good night’s sleep!
