How Serious Is Your Snoring?
Snoring can do a lot more harm than just annoy your partner — it can lead to poor sleep quality and quantity. About 90 million Americans suffer from snoring; as many as half of those may have the sleep disorder Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Snoring is often the sign of a condition called obstructive sleep apnea, which raises the risk for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, stroke, heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.
Sleep apnea is a serious condition in which your breathing is obstructed, causing you to wake up in order to start breathing again. Regular snoring doesn’t typically wake you up. One way to tell the difference between snoring and OSA is to look for the symptoms of sleep apnea: waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air, continual sleepiness during the day and always snoozing with your mouth open.
Another way to differentiate between regular snoring and sleep apnea is the type of snoring. Those with sleep apnea tend to snore more regularly and loudly, plus they often gasp for air in their sleep and you can sometimes hear them momentarily stop breathing. People with OSA have more of a choking sound to their snores.
People with obstructive sleep apnea stop breathing for 10 or more than 10 seconds while they sleep. This can occur from a few to hundreds of times a night. Snoring doesn’t occur in every case of sleep apnea, and not all people who snore have sleep apnea. But anyone who is told they snore should consider obstructive sleep apnea as a possible cause.
If you or your loved ones snore or have sleep apnea, call to schedule your appointment. We offer oral appliances for management of OSA/snoring which is a comfortable alternative to CPAP therapy. Visit DallasTMJDr.com for more info.
