What Causes Sleep Apnea?

For patients struggling with sleep apnea symptoms, Faces Fort Worth can help. We understand how bothersome sleep apnea can be and offer a variety of solutions to help improve breathing while you sleep. 

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder that causes breathing to repeatedly start and stop during slumber. This disorder often causes people to wake up many times throughout the night. As a result, many patients may feel tired even after a full night of sleep. Most patients with sleep apnea don’t even notice they wake up during the night. 
There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and complex sleep apnea. Common symptoms of sleep apnea include snoring loudly, gasping for air, snorting, and stopping breathing for several seconds. Sleep apnea patients may also experience headaches, fatigue, dry mouth after awakening, trouble concentrating, and more.

What Are the Causes of Sleep Apnea?

Possible causes of obstructive sleep apnea include hypothyroidism, obesity, allergies, smoking, alcohol and drug use, and a narrow throat. During sleep, patients’ throat muscles relax, causing soft tissue in the back of the throat to block the airway. Central sleep apnea happens when a patient’s brain does not successfully send signals to the muscles responsible for breathing. 

As a result, there is a reduced effort to breathe during sleep. This sleep disorder is not as common as obstructive sleep apnea. Heart conditions, sleeping at high altitudes, kidney failure, stroke, and certain medications may contribute to central sleep apnea. Complex sleep apnea occurs when patients have both obstructive and central sleep apnea.

What Treatments Are There for Sleep Apnea?

There are many ways to treat sleep apnea at Faces Fort Worth. Patients with less severe sleep apnea symptoms may improve their sleep disorder with lifestyle changes, such as leading a healthy lifestyle with diet and exercise, quitting smoking, and changing their sleep position. 

Patients can also treat their sleep apnea with CPAP therapy, which delivers positive air pressure through a mask to help them breathe at night. However, some patients may find this mask uncomfortable and seek other sleep apnea solutions.

At Faces Fort Worth, the sleep apnea treatments we offer include surgical procedures like uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) surgery, laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUPP), and maxillomandibular advancement surgery (corrective jaw surgery). Dr. Keith Sonneveld at Faces Fort Worth can help diagnose your sleep apnea and recommend the best treatment to help you sleep better at night. 

Schedule a consultation today to discover how we can help you achieve interrupted sleep.

Take the Next Step

If you have further questions about sleep apnea, we encourage you to schedule a consultation at Faces Fort Worth. Call us at (817) 927-1818 or fill out our online contact form. We look forward to taking care of you.