Information About Sleep Apnea Pillow
Sleep apnea is a common disorder where person stops breathing for more than 10 seconds during sleep. This can occur 5-50 times in an hours time and is a serious condition. Most common type of sleep apneais obstructive sleep apnea which means that you cannot get enough air through your mouth and nose. This causes serious lack of oxygen in the blood and lungs. The person may wakeup with a loud snort or choking sound. People who suffer from sleep apnea snore loudly but not every snorer has sleep apnea.
Cures for Sleep Apnea
There are some easy cures for sleep apnea. They include some changes in the lifestyle, stop smoking and drinking, lose weight and surgery. Depending on the severity of sleep apnea, various measures can be suggested by your doctor.
One of the most common treatments for sleep apnea is the sleep apnea pillow specially designed for people suffering from it. Snoring is common for people suffering from sleep apnea and this pillow is designed keeping them in mind. Sleep apnea pillow is designed to give a support to the neck and prevent patients from rolling on to their back. If the patients sleep on their back, the soft tissue at the end of the throat totally blocks the airway thus causing lack of oxygen in the body.
Sleep apnea pillow also has a support for head and helps people who sleep on their side by relieving pressure on arms and shoulders. There are many manufacturers who claim to have created sleep apnea pillow, but so far, SONA pillow is the only one that has been approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This pillow has an odd shape as it looks like a two tiered triangle.
This sleep apnea pillow is intended for person to sleep in side position. Its angular design is what helps it in treating sleep apnea. There are two inclined surfaces that make the primary sleeping surface. There is a flatter surface in the middle. Each lower part of triangle of sleep apnea pillow has a training arm sling. While using the pillow, you can lie down on either side and extend arms under the pillow in the open space. Your arm should remain extended while you sleep and head must remain on the same side as that of the extended hand.
Sleep apnea pillow is a good sleep apnea cure. In the starting it is hard to use the training arm sling and maintain the position. One will get used to it slowly. Sleep apnea pillow is not useful for treating severe sleep apnea. This pillow is useless for those who have BMI of more than 30. Sleep apnea pillow will be more effective in treating mild sleep apnea for people having normal weight.
It is important to consult your physician before you start using sleep apnea pillow. This pillow should be fluffed periodically and it also undergoes normal wear and tear like all other pillows. You need to replace this pillow each year.