Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing repeatedly starts and stops during sleep. Even after a night’s sleep, patients feel tired and fatigued, and feel sleepy throughout the day, and many experience loud snoring. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of this condition, and it affects a person when their throat muscles relax. There are various treatments available for sleep apnea, including the following methods:

1. Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP)
Breathing masks like CPAP machines are widely used to treat sleep apnea in cases ranging from moderate to severe. The mask is worn during sleep and covers the nose and mouth. It supplies air into the throat continuously to prevent the airway from collapsing.

2. Oral appliances
Oral appliances are also used as treatments for sleep apnea and are very effective. These are worn like a mouthguard when sleeping, and they hold the lower jaw slightly forward, making a small opening for the air to pass, preventing the tongue and the airway muscles from collapsing and blocking the air passage.

3. Surgery
Surgery is recommended for adults, but it is only an effective treatment for snoring and not for obstructive sleep apnea. The surgeon has to find what obstructs the airflow, and it is unlikely that sleep apnea will diminish with this treatment if obstruction is present at multiple sites. In such cases, patients require another form of treatment.

Children who suffer from sleep apnea can have adenoids or enlarged tonsils, and in over 75% of the cases, surgery is recommended to remove the tissues, which is effective for managing sleep apnea. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics has chosen surgery for the removal of adenoids and tonsils as the first choice to treat sleep apnea in children.

4. Weight loss
Over 70% of sleep apnea patients are obese or overweight, so health care professionals advise them to lose weight. Once body weight is reduced to a healthy number, snoring and incidents of hypopnea and sleep apnea are reduced. Weight-loss medications are prescribed to obese patients in some cases.

5. Positional therapy
People with sleep apnea who snore when they sleep on their backs can eliminate this problem by sleeping on the side as it helps prevent airway blockage. A common method to induce side sleeping is to pin a tennis ball to a sock at the back of the top worn to bed.

Apart from opting for treatment, it is important to note that pain medications are known to relax the muscles and affect respiration. The relaxing of the muscles leads to the airway collapsing and causes sleep apnea. Avoiding the consumption of alcohol close to bedtime is also an important part of the treatment for sleep apnea.