Sleep Apnoea

Best Choice Sleep Apnoea for Treatment in Ballarat

What is Sleep Apnoea?

Apnoea literally means “no breath” or “stopping breathing”. If you have sleep apnoea, the air stops flowing to your lungs for episodes of 10 seconds or more. You have episodes where you stop breathing.

This makes your blood oxygen level drop, so your brain wakes you up so you can take a breath. You often fall back to sleep, without knowing and the cycle begins again.

These ‘Apnoea’s’ can occur up to 30 times an hour. They can be complete or partial. The next day you may feel tired and wrung out, waking unrefreshed.

Why Is Diagnosing Sleep Apnoea Important?

Sleep apnoea, if left undiagnosed and untreated can have serious long-term effects on your health. Sleep apnoea is a risk factor for the development of hypertension and insulin resistance. It is associated with heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia and stroke. Since sleep apnoea can influence your health and wellbeing so much, it is important to find out if you suffer from the problem and how to get effective treatment. It is very a common condition affecting 2-4% of adults to a significant degree. 3 in 10 men and almost 1 in 5 women suffer from sleep apnoea.

There are different types of sleep apnoea. Sleep Apnoea can be mild, moderate or severe depending on how many ‘Apnoea’s’ you suffer i.e. how many times an hour you stop breathing.

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Types of Apnoea

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

Central Sleep Apnoea

Mixed or Complex Sleep Apnoea

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea

This is discussed in more detail here as this is the primary treatment provided by Quality Sleep Clinic. Airway obstruction is by far the most common type of sleep apnoea (OSA).

Sleeping on your back. If you sleep on your back, the relaxed muscles in your mouth and tongue can restrict your breathing
Thick tissues at the back of your mouth. A piece of tissue called a ‘uvula’ hangs down from the top of your mouth. When you go to sleep it can slip back and obstruct your breathing
Enlarged tonsils and adenoids can also restrict your airway and cause obstructive sleep apnoea
If you’re overtired or suffering from lack of sleep when you do finally sleep, your muscles relax more and this can contribute to obstructive sleep apnoea
Allergies, hay fever, colds, sinus infections and flu can block your nasal passages and contribute to sleep apnoea
Overweight people often carry extra fatty tissue around their neck area which increases the restriction of their airway when they sleep

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Central Sleep Apnoea

A disconnect between your brain and body causes central sleep apnoea.

Blunting of your breathing reflex. This can occur in people who have had obstructive sleep apnoea for a long time
Slow blood circulation due to heart problems can affect your normal breathing reflexes
Certain pain medications can reduce your urge to breathe, e.g. morphine
A stroke or other brain problems can affect the part of your brain controlling breathing
Weak lung muscles brought on by a neuromuscular disorder can affect your breathing
A chest wall or lung abnormality may have caused your lungs to be too stiff
High altitude may also cause central sleep apnoea in some people

Mixed or Complex Sleep Apnoea

Some people have a combination of both types of sleep apnoea. Referral to your doctor and a specialist physician is recommended for mixed or central sleep apnoea treatment.

It is also recommended that a sleep or respiratory physician reviews your sleep study and recommends an oral appliance to help with your sleep apnoea.

If you are not sure if you have sleep apnoea then take this simple and free online sleep assessment and call us to find out what your treatment options are.

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What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA)?

Loud or frequent snoring
Silent pauses in breathing during sleep
Choking or gasping sounds during sleep
Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
Waking in the morning and not feeling refreshed
Insomnia
Morning headaches
Waking during the night to go to the bathroom
Difficulty concentrating

Memory loss
Decreased sexual desire
Irritability
Impotence
Waking with a sore throat
Night sweats
Neck size greater than 41 cm in women
Neck size greater than 43 cm in men

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What Are the Benefits of Treating Sleep Apnoea?

If you feel that your energy level, mood and productivity are affected by sleep apnoea, you will really enjoy the benefits of treatment. You can expect improvement in your mod when you wake up as well as a reduction in daytime headaches – if sleep apnoea was causing them or making them worse.

Your general feeling of well-being may improve, and your long-suffering family might also be able to sleep more soundly without listening to you snore.

As sleep apnoea can also have long term effects on your heart, metabolism and overall health, seeking treatment makes total sense for your overall well-being.

Therapy helps to improve your daily energy levels so you can feel more like yourself again. By using your sleep apnoea treatment every night, you are taking control of your health and well-being.

How Can We Treat Snoring and OSA?

At the Quality Sleep Clinic, we focus on Mandibular Therapy, or Oral Appliances to treat Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.

The 3DS Advance is a 3D printed nylon dorsal wing design appliance. The dorsal design is the most popular custom made appliance in use worldwide. It is the only appliance in which the upper and lower components are not connected together.

The lateral fin design maximises patient comfort and minimises side effects and allows the patient to open and close, talk easily, sip water etc.

As the upper and lower components can move independently of each other during mandibular movements there are less forces on teeth, thereby enhancing patient comfort.

The lateral fins hold the mandible forward, even during mouth opening. As the upper and lower components are not connected there are little dislodging forces when in use and retention is rarely a problem.

The new generation dorsal appliance has been successfully used in tens of thousands of patients throughout the USA, Europe and Australia. There have been many studies of the dorsal fin designed appliances demonstrating effectiveness and comfort.

The 3DS Advance is made from 3D printed nylon and is unbreakable in the mouth. This is in stark contrast to dorsal designed appliances made from acrylic resin which are prone to fracture – a very undesirable problem with potentially serious consequences.

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Mandibular Therapy

A specially designed custom mouthguard may work as an alternative to CPAP therapy. An example of this is the Advance Mandibular Advancement Splint (MAS) made of 3D printed Nylon. It works by holding your bottom jaw in a forward position, which makes more space behind your tongue.

The advance is effective in relieving snoring as well as mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnoea. People with more severe obstructive sleep apnoea who can’t manage to use CPAP may be advised to give one of these a try.
Lifestyle Changes

Alcohol and most sleeping pills relax the muscles of the throat and can worsen snoring and sleep apnoea. You should avoid alcohol for at least three hours prior to bedtime.

Smoking and caffeine can also worsen snoring and sleep apnoea, due to swelling of the nasal and throat tissues.
Weight Loss

If you are overweight, weight reduction may improve your snoring. Weight gain deposits fat into and around the soft palate, tongue and neck structures consequently reducing the size of the airway.

Weight loss can reduce these fat deposits and enlarge the airway size thereby reducing snoring. Although weight loss is beneficial, it is usually insufficient as a treatment option to overcome all problematic snoring.
Positional Therapy and Sleep Position

Elevating the head of your bed and avoiding sleeping on your back may be helpful in ensuring your tongue does not fall back into the throat and reduce the airway size when sleeping.

We can help you with strategies to help you sleep on your side.
CPAP

CPAP stands for ‘Continuous Positive Airway Pressure’. CPAP therapy is the gold standard for treating sleep apnoea.

It is a device that delivers a constant flow of air via a mask while you sleep, preventing your airway from becoming blocked and enabling you to sleep peacefully and awaken refreshed.
Bi-level or Bi-PAP

Bi-level (or Bi-PAP) machines are similar to CPAP machines except that they deliver a lower pressure when you are breathing out.

If you need higher pressure to treat your sleep apnoea, you may find it difficult to adjust to regular CPAP and bi-level may be more comfortable for you.
Surgery

Surgery is not a common treatment for snoring and sleep apnoea. It involves trimming and tightening of soft tissues in the throat. Post-operatively it is usually associated with severe pain and studies show that it is only 30-50% effective in stopping snoring.

The side-effects can include altered tone of voice and regurgitation of food. For these reasons, surgery is rarely a preferred treatment for snoring by sleep physicians in Australia.
Unproven and Ineffective Treatments

There are other treatments offered on the internet and in stores which include unfitted ‘Boil and Bite’ devices, nasal strips, sprays, pillows, rings and breathing techniques.

These methods are unproven, are generally regarded as ineffective, and not recommended by sleep physicians.