Obstructive Sleep Apnea

 

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Obstructive Sleep Apnea(OSA) is a sleep-disordered breathing condition that can cause breathing to stop during sleep, depriving the body and brain of necessary oxygen. Sleep Apnea can range from mild to severe and when left untreated, can greatly increase your risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, anxiety, depression and pain.

Obstructive sleep apnea is becoming quite common in children and may be linked to a number of conditions such as ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities, behavioural problems and may even stunt a child's growth. 

Recognizing early warning signs of OSA are key to preventing symptoms and treating underlying causes.

Warning Signs of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

  • Chronic Mouth Breathing

  • Snoring

  • Choking/Gasping sensation during sleep

  • Chronic Daytime Fatigue/Foggy head

  • Anxiety/Depression/Mood Changes

  • Forgetfulness/Difficulty concentrating during day

  • Hyperactivity

  • Teeth Grinding

  • Bedwetting or needing to use bathroom at night

How Does Myofunctional Therapy Help?

Myofunctional Therapy is proving to be an effective way to help treat mild to moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea and snoring. In most cases of obstructive sleep apnea and snoring, patients have weak and improperly functioning oral muscles. If you can rehabilitate those muscles and improve oral posture, you can ease the symptoms. Myofunctional Therapy works great to strengthen and re-pattern oral muscles to improve airway tone.

In recent studies, myofunctional therapy has been shown to decrease the apnea-hypopnea index(AHI) by approximately 50% in adults and 62% in children. 

Myofunctional therapy can also serve as an adjunct to other obstructive sleep apnea treatments.

 

Diagnosing Sleep Apnea

The only practitioners who can diagnose sleep apnea are medical doctors. Even dentists who specialize in sleep dentistry are not able to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea. 

As an Orofacial Myologist, Kim is able to recognize the signs and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea and recommend patients visit their medical doctor to arrange a sleep study if necessary. 

Knowing your diagnosis and sleep score(AHI) is helpful in determining your treatment plan.

Contact us today to arrange an assessment and discuss your sleep symptoms!