When you don’t sleep well at night, it affects every aspect of your life. You may begin to notice that you feel drained throughout the day, easily irritable, or have a decline in your physical health. It can also affect your loved ones, since your restlessness or snoring can wake them up and disrupt their rest as well. Often, your trouble sleeping may be due to a serious disorder, which requires professional treatment to address. Dr. Drake and his team in Schertz, TX, can help diagnose the concern and find the right treatment option that meets your needs.
We must first identify the cause of your poor rest before we can find the best treatment. In some cases, you may be having difficulty sleeping due to stress and other external factors. You may be able to resolve these issues on your own and help you catch better Z’s. In other cases, your poor quality of rest could be due to disorders such as snoring and sleep apnea. Snoring is the harsh breathing sound that happens when your airways become obstructed at night. If you often snore loudly, the problem could be a symptom of a more serious dysfunction known as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), which causes you to periodically stop breathing throughout the night.
Once you receive a diagnosis of the disorder, it’s crucial to select a treatment that best suits your needs. Since OSA is caused by your airway becoming obstructed while you rest, you need a treatment that can help keep your airways open and help you breathe throughout the night. Rather than using an uncomfortable CPAP machine, we can create a custom oral appliance for you to wear at night, similar to a mouthguard. The device keeps your jaw forward and airways open and reduces your symptoms. You will notice that you can breathe better at night and don’t wake up as often.
Now that you have your oral appliance, learn how to use it and care for it. You will need to wear your appliance every night to help address your symptoms of OSA. In the morning, you can remove it and clean it thoroughly to remove any bacteria that has accumulated throughout the night. These steps will help keep your device clean so you can maintain it for many years. If you need to readjust or correct your appliance, our team is here to help.
You don’t have to go about your daily life feeling drained. If you are experiencing snoring and other symptoms of sleep apnea, call Dr. Drake in Schertz, TX, today at 210-541-9001 to learn more about your treatment options.