Symptoms of sleep apnea include things that you can control, for a better night’s sleep. Smoking, weight, drinking, exercise, and medicine use are all within your power to change.

For example, just losing ten percent of your body weight can lessen the severity of your sleep apnea, as well as lower blood pressure and put less strain on your joints. Add exercise to that equation, and you have a body that is in better shape to combat the condition and oxygenate your blood.

Some use sleeping aids to get a good night’s sleep. When you have sleep apnea, these drugs can be dangerous. It is the jerking that wakes you up as the body tries to restore your breathing. If you are in too deep a sleep you will be even more oxygen-deprived.

What about surgery? Invasive techniques are often needed such that the cause will disappear, namely the tissue that is obstructing the airway. One such surgery is a tonsillectomy. It is the surgical removal of tonsils to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

Swollen tonsils can block the airway and make breathing difficult. Removing the enlarged lymph tissue opens up the airway. Adenoid tissue can also hang at the back of the throat. It is removed in a procedure called an adenoidectomy which is preformed with or without a tonsillectomy.

Those who snore a lot can reduce the symptom of snoring and obstructive breathing with a UPPP (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty). This procedure can be done using a laser to remove part of the soft palate and a portion of the uvula to widen the airway.

Pillar implants bolster up the soft palate so it doesn’t vibrate a lot and collapse over the airway during sleep. The procedure is less invasive than a UPPP and can be done in the doctor’s office.

Do you suffer from sleep apnea? The good news is that there are now many different options for your treatment. Talk to your doctors, review the results of your sleep studies together, and decide which slee