CPAP is one of the top treatment methods used for curing sleep apnea, but people have different bodies and different causes for their sleep apnea so if CPAP does not work for you, let me tell you about the alternatives!
How to cure sleep apnea without CPAP? Check out this list of methods that you can try to cure your sleep apnea.
- Rapid Maxillary Expansion
- Jaw Advancement Surgery
- Surgical Airway Advancement
- Nasal Strips
- Oral Appliance
- Lose weight
- Stop or avoid smoking too much.
- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
- Avoid sedatives before going to sleep
- Maintain a proper sleep routine.
- Don’t overwork yourself all the time.
- Treat chronic allergies
Sleep apnea treatments will be different depending on what causes it. It is important to be properly diagnosed first to find out what is the best procedure that can be done for your condition.
Some sleep apneas can be cured by simply getting plenty of good rest and not going to be d exhausted. While some are complicated to the point that it needs surgeries to get rid of it.
The best thing to get diagnosed properly is to conduct a sleep study wherein you will be staying at a sleep center so health experts can observe your sleeping pattern and how your body will behave.
Just the list alone may not give you enough information about the alternatives, so read on to learn more about them!
How to cure sleep apnea without CPAP
Since I gave you the list of alternate options for curing sleep apnea, let me you give some further details about it. Take note, some of these clearly show that you can start with changing your lifestyle!
- Rapid Maxillary Expansion
- For children with obstructive sleep apnea. This process places an expandable brace on the roof of the mouth that increases the width of the upper jaw (maxilla).
- Over time, parents can adjust the brace using a special key to increase the amount of pressure for the teeth.
- Jaw Advancement Surgery
- For teenagers and adults. This process will surgically break the jaw bones, moved forward and then fixed properly with screws and plates and will change the person’s facial structure or profile.
- It might take months to recover.
- Surgical Airway Advancement
- Similar to the 2nd example. Bones of the upper and lower jaw will be repositioned in a way that will relieve airway obstruction.
- Nasal Strips
- Nasal strips are one of the earliest tools used to treat sleep apnea and its symptoms such as snoring. Nowadays, there are newly developed nasal strips that you can try.
- Oral Appliance
- Oral pieces can help with sleep apnea, they are custom made to make sure it prevents the obstruction in the airways and counter sleep apnea.
- Lose weight
- Being overweight or obesity can be a cause of sleep apnea. You can potentially get rid of sleep apnea by getting plenty of exercises and maintaining a healthy, balanced diet.
- Stop or avoid smoking too much.
- Excessive smoking can cause or worsen sleep apnea. Reducing your smoke intake per day will also reduce the risk of getting sleep apnea. If possible, quit smoking to potentially get rid of sleep apnea.
- Avoid excessive alcohol consumption
- Drinking too much alcohol before sleeping can cause and worsen sleep apnea just like smoking.
- Avoid sedatives before going to sleep
- Certain sedatives can cause sleep apnea. Consult a medical expert to determine what type of sedative may be the cause.
- Maintain a proper sleep routine.
- Sometimes, we end up getting exposed to sleep apnea since we simply don’t sleep at the right time. Try to avoid staying up late and sleep early.
- Try to keep a proper sleeping position as well. Try to sleep with your head elevated or sleeping in a recliner chair.
- Stop overworking yourself.
- Going to sleep exhausted can make us a lot more prone to sleep apnea. It’s important to relax a little bit at first before going to bed to lessen the risk of sleep apnea.
- Treating chronic allergies
- Some allergies can trigger obstruction in your body’s airways and may cause you to have sleep apnea. Treat or avoid triggering your allergies to prevent sleep apnea.
Why sleep apnea may not be cured without CPAP
Just in case you already tried the other options and your sleep apnea still persists, then there must be a deeper reason that causes your sleep apnea and it must be eliminated.
Check out this list of conditions that can prevent curing sleep apnea with or without CPAP. Some of these can be helped while some cannot be avoided at all, but it’s important that you know about it.
- Obesity
- Can make breathing difficult even while asleep or not moving. If you are overweight, you can cure sleep apnea by trying to lose weight.
- Hypothyroidism
- The condition wherein your body does not produce enough thyroid hormones, which is needed to control how to use energy received from food through metabolism. Bad metabolism can affect heartbeat and breathing.
- Acromegaly
- Opposite of hypothyroidism, acromegaly produces too much growth hormones which can affect your overall health including breathing.
- Allergies
- There are certain allergies that can worsen sleep apnea. Allergies that result with difficulty in breathing are the likes.
- Smoking cigarettes
- Excessive smoking can damage your body which may make it harder to function or relax properly, increasing the risk of sleep apnea or stopping you from curing it.
- Drinking liquor
- Too much liquor and drinking before going to sleep can cause sleep apnea. Excessive liquor can counteract against the treatments being used to cure your sleep apnea.
- Drug usage
- Sedations or other types of drugs especially when being abused can result in sleep apnea or worse. It can also prevent other medications from working.
- Being male
- Observations reveal that males tend to have sleep apnea more than females
- Though this factor cannot be avoided, knowing about it will help you understand the reason why you are prone to sleep apnea.
- Being old
- Observations also revealed that older adults are more prone to sleep apnea than younger ones due to more complicated health issues that may trigger sleep apnea
Other natural causes of sleep apnea can be a thick neck, narrow throat and having a round head. Avoid triggering your allergies or get medications for other conditions to cure your sleep apnea.
When to cure sleep apnea without CPAP
If CPAP does not go well with your preference and you’ve decided to look for alternatives just like what was listed in here, take time to read this list to let you know when you should get treated for your sleep apnea.
- When you snore heavily
- Maybe, it can be a sign of fatigue but snoring loudly and usually can be a sign of sleep apnea.
- Gasping for air during sleep
- The feeling of drowning without knowing it and suddenly you’re out of air.
- If you have insomnia
- Having trouble going to sleep because you have breathing problems that you may not notice
- If you experience hypersomnia
- Having trouble staying awake in the morning because you were unable to sleep well due to your sleep apnea
- Waking up with a headache
- Sleep apnea can disturb your body’s “charging” state. Since you can’t sleep well, your body will use energy for means that can help you breathe which may lead to headaches.
- Waking up with a dry mouth
- With sleep apnea, the person tends to snore and keep their mouth open when gasping for air which leads to a dried up mouth once we awaken.
- Decreased ability to focus
- Sleep apnea can give lack of sleep which will also result in difficulty to focus on anything
- Feeling uncomfortable
- Your lack of energy due to sleep apnea can make you feel uncomfortable and irritable without your knowledge
- Suddenly stop breathing during sleep
- Your housemates should notice this and tell you about it. Sleep apnea can disrupt breathing that may last for up to 10 seconds which is already risky.
What happens if sleep apnea is not cured
In case you are wondering if treating sleep apnea is important and if it’s worth to go through all that trouble, you should know what happens to untreated sleep apnea. Here’s a list of possible outcomes.
- Heart failure
- May lead to fatal conditions such as brain damages or even death
- Heart attack
- Can also be severely threatening
- Irregular heartbeat
- Worsens the ability to breathe
- Can trigger anxiety
- Stroke
- Can leave permanent damage
- May lead to paralysis
- Depression
- Not an easy condition to treat
- Weight gain or loss
- Untreated sleep apnea can drive a person to have an uncontrolled weight gain or weight loss
- Diabetes
- Leaves you prone to more heart attacks
- High Blood Pressure
- Aside from your physical health, this can also affect your mental health and relationship with people around you including your work
- Increases ADHD
- Sleep apnea reduces your ability to focus which is what happens when you have ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
- Having a lack of control to focus can lead to frustration
- Headaches
- You may wake up with a bad headache which will lead to other problems listed here
- Lack of daily energy
- As mentioned, your energy will be reduced since you are unable to sleep well.
- Seizures
- Sleep apnea patients are more prone to seizures during sleep compared to epilepsy patients without sleep apnea.
Related Questions
Can sleep apnea be cured naturally?
No, sleep apnea does not go away by itself. However, depending on the cause of sleep apnea, it may sometimes seem to go away “naturally”.
For example, the reason behind your sleep apnea is improper sleeping position. You began to sleep with your head properly elevated and it stopped causing your sleep apnea.
In a sense, sleep apnea would look like it was cured “naturally”.
Is there an alternative to a CPAP machine?
Yes, there are plenty of alternatives to a CPAP machine. There are also mini CPAP masks today that are cordless and doesn’t have to be attached to a machine. Airing CPAP is also under development until today.
Other alternatives are nasal strips, anti-snore pillows, oral appliances, recliners and surgeries. There are more but the best thing you can do is to get your sleep apnea diagnosed for better resolution.
