While the amount of sleep you need will vary depending on age, everyone needs sleep to heal, recharge, and allow their body to get sufficient rest to face the next day. Sadly, over 50 million people struggle with some form of sleep disorder, which makes accomplishing this seemingly simple task harder, and over 100 million people complain they don’t get enough sleep for a variety of reasons.
Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that affects how much sleep you get and restricts your breathing while trying to reach rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is important to your sleep cycle. Depending on its severity and type, there are a number of ways to manage the problem, but the Inspire™ treatment offers results without bulky devices or other external methods to let you rest comfortably.
If you live in the Lake Oswego, Oregon, area and sleeping problems are preventing you from getting a good night’s rest, the team of doctors at Lake Grove ENT can help. Now, let’s learn some facts about sleep apnea, what the Inspire process does to help, and what the procedure is like.
This condition causes your breathing to stop and start repeatedly while attempting to sleep, preventing you from resting peacefully and potentially providing a serious threat to your health, depending on how bad the problem is. Different types of sleep apnea can create this problem, such as:
There are various causes by type, with OSA coming from obesity, a thicker neck, family history, nasal congestion, and smoking; CSA coming from stroke, heart disorders, use of narcotics (opioids); and complex sleep apnea can result from mixed symptoms of the other two. Aging and being male also raise your risks of both types of sleep apnea.
This treatment targets issues with OSA by implanting a device that monitors breathing and stimulates the airway to keep it clear when you’re trying to sleep. Devices like the continued positive airway pressure (CPAP) create constant pressure through an external mask; this method places a device inside that stimulates nerves controlled by a remote device.
This Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment works best if you meet the following requirements: you’ve been diagnosed with OSA (with an AHI score of 15-65), you’re over 18, you’ve tried CPAP, you’re BMI is under 32, and your airway has been examined.
This is a minor surgery to implant, and it starts by implanting the stimulation wire in the branches of the hypoglossal nerve at the back of your throat. After that, a sensing wire is put in along your rib cage for detecting breathing and ensuring the airway and tongue muscle can be stimulated when necessary. Next, the stimulator is placed on the right side of your upper chest and connected to the sensors.
Once the surgery is complete, pain medication shouldn’t be necessary, and you can resume your normal diet. However, you will be instructed to avoid strenuous activity for the next couple of weeks.
Inspire can help with sleep apnea and make sleeping easier, so if this sleep disorder is affecting your sleep and a CPAP is not getting you results, make an appointment with the team at Lake Grove ENT today.
