Flying somewhere? You might want to see a doctor first before you get on a plane.
If you’re planning to book a ticket for a long vacation outside your country, it is always necessary to see a doctor to check your health and see if you have any undiagnosed illnesses. One of the common sleeping problems that one might encounter during air traveling is sleep apnea. This might be common but it can be dangerous because sleep apnea can be a reason for some death cases while on travel.
What is a sleep apnea?
Before we go down on the remedies, it is important to know and understand what sleep apnea is. Sleep apnea is similar to sleep paralysis; it occurs while you are sleeping but it doesn’t have an epileptic symptoms when it occurs. It is one of the reasons you need to be careful about which mattress to buy. Sleep apnea is a process where your breathing process will stop for a few minutes due to some particular interruptions such as an upper air way which mostly happens when you’re on an air travel.
What are the things that triggers sleep apnea?
There are various things that can trigger sleep apnea that will depend on age. Sleep apnea in adults are usually caused by unhealthy eating and obesity. While sleep apnea in children is caused by some minor tonsils or any dental problems. People who have some bad habits related to alcohol and smoking are also prone to sleep apnea. This is because smoking can interrupt the flow of your breathing because it clogs the air in their lungs, which is also the same with drinking. Once you have these both as your bad habits, then you need to see your doctor immediately to diagnose your health condition and to find out what are the other possible illnesses you are prone to.
What are the symptoms of apnea and who can have it?
People who are unhealthy, has an excessive weight and people who smoke and drink an unusual amount of alcohol are the people who are prone to sleep apnea. It is also easy to identify someone who has sleep apnea when they have these following symptoms:
- Sleep disruption due to sore or dry throat
- Unusual snoring
- Waking up in the middle of the night coughing
- Feeling sleepy throughout the day
- Waking up with a migraine
- Uncomfortable sleeping
- Forgetfulness
- Mood swing
- Low sex drive
- Insomnia
Here are the different ways to decrease the effects of sleep apnea
To reduce the effects of sleep apnea or your chances to have it, it is important to live a healthy lifestyle. In this part of the article, you will find out the different ways that will help you reduce the effects of sleep apnea, so just keep on reading!
- Have a consistent weight
We all know that having an excessive weight is not healthy because having an overweight can make us prone to illnesses, and one of these illnesses is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is already common for people who are overweight and there is an explanation for that. People who have an excessive weight has soft tissues, causing their air ways to get clog making their breath to stop for a few seconds or sometimes a few minutes. Another thing is that, they also have a high level of saturated fat, cholesterol because of the fatty food that they are eating. That’s why all of the doctors would always advise their patients to have a consistent weight to reduce the effects or your chances getting a sleep apnea.
- Regular exercise and healthy diet
To reduce your weight and the effects of sleep apnea, you need to have a regular exercise. A regular exercise is usually done early in the morning, like 5:00 – 6:00 AM, by doing this, your body will be able to burn all the fats and cholesterol that clogs the flow of your air and interrupt you blood circulation. This will also strengthen your muscles, and your soft tissues too, that’s why regular exercise is a must if you are a person who is prone to sleep apnea who wants to reduce its effects on you. This means you can’t be sitting on your modern bean bag eating pizza all day.
You should also pair up your regular exercise with a healthy diet, and avoid foods that are high in cholesterol such as fatty beef, poultry with skin, dairy products, lamb and pork. You can also try to eat peanut butter before sleeping, to help you sleep at night without worrying about the effects of sleep apnea. To have a healthy diet, you need to eat the type of food that will strengthen not just your body, but also your cardiovascular system and your immune system in general.
- Choose the right and comfy sleeping position
There are some specific sleeping positions that can worsen the effects of your sleep apnea. Sleep apnea on adults and children has a huge difference when it comes to sleeping position. Children with sleep apnea who sleep on their backs can minimize them to snore (one of the effects of sleep apnea). However, for adults who sleep on their back can trigger or increase the effect of their sleep apnea, such as excessive snoring. The best side to sleep on for adults are on their left side, while for children are sleeping on their back and on their left side. To make your sleep safer and comfier, you can also get a cool gel mattress. This type of mattress is made with organic mattress that will help you sleep in a healthier and safer sleeping environment. You need to also make a choice between a plush vs firm mattress. It plays a very important role in the quality of sleep you get.
- Don’t forget to spray some humidifier
Sleeping without any moisture on your air inside your bed room is one of the reasons that increases your sleep apnea. Humidifier are just similar with essential oil that you can spray on your pillow, on your bed or around your bedroom. As you inhale and exhale, your respiratory system will be able to function well with the moisture you inhaled from the humidifier. This device gives you a comfort with safety while you fall asleep and you won’t have to worry about your sleep apnea to occur.
- Avoid any bad habits
These bad habits are smoking, excessive drinking of alcohol, and some other things that can weaken your immune system, causing your sleep apnea to increase. Smoking creates a huge amount of fog inside your lungs that clog the airway and that’s when your breathing gets interrupted. Alcohol creates some acid air inside our body that can also interrupt the process of our respiratory system. When these things happen, that’s when your sleep apnea increases or occurs. Alcohol can also reduce the quality of sleep at night, even if you have a full size foam mattress.
For people who have been smoking and drinking a huge amount of alcohol for a long period of time, it won’t be easy for them to avoid alcohol or smoking. That’s why the process of quitting should be step by step procedure with a guide of an expert in this particular field. With the support from your loved ones, you’ll be able to get rid of these bad habits which will help you minimize the effect your sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea is a very serious sleeping disorder because it can take away one’s life if it is a treat in a wrong way. It is a sleeping disorder that will need a step by step procedure to reduce its effects. Everyone can have and be prone to sleep apnea if bad habits and unhealthy eating is being tolerated. This article is written for the readers to have an idea what is a sleep apnea and how they can treat it but of course with the help of their doctor.
Aside from these different ways written above, there are also some other and effective remedies you can find and get. However, you still need to see your doctor to know what exact you will need for decreasing the effects of your sleep apnea. You will need to discuss a very detailed information to your doctor about your experiences on sleep apnea, because there are different treatments that a doctor can give you, that depends on your case. These different ways that are written above are the basic guides you will need as a first aid. Proper prescription from your doctor is still an important and a must thing you need to do before or even after reading this article.
Once all of those symptoms mentioned persists, it is important to always seek professional help instead of self-medication. There are a lot of negative effects that you might get from self-medicating and it might even worsen your situation that will require an additional treatment, that’s why once the effects of your sleep apnea increases, things that are mentioned in the previous paragraph are things you need immediately.
