Sleep Apnea Mouth Devices
December 8th, 2008 | Published in Things
As many of you already know I suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This is a sleeping disorder where my airways collapse while I am sleeping and I actually stop breathing. This causes me to wake up to so I can start breathing again. The whole process happens on average 30 times a minute and I don’t realize it is happening.
But I sure feel it the next day. I use a CPAP machine which provides a constant air pressure into my nose and mouth and prevents my throat from closing. The apparatus is awkward and uncomfortable, so I am on a never ending quest for an alternative. Recently I have been exploring sleep apnea dental devices as a possible solution. These are designed to hold the lower jaw forward while you sleep. This makes it more difficult to snore. They resemble athletic mouth guards or and are made to fit inside your mouth. While effective somewhat I doubt that they will provide the same level of assistance that a breathing machine does, but perhaps I can swap one in while traveling or on the nights when I just can get comfortable with the mask. We’ll see.