Can Sleeping On Your Side Prevent Sleep Apnea

If you are fatigued and distracted during the day no matter how much time you spent in bed you may have sleep apnea.

Can sleeping on your side prevent sleep apnea.

Sew a tennis ball into the back of a pajama top so you will turn on your side to sleep. Avoid sleeping on your back. These types of beds are pricey but even if you could easily afford one you d still end up being locked in one position since sleeping on your side while upright would be unbearably uncomfortable. That has to do with how and where weight falls on the airway.

However some of the patients didn t feel any change and they still have sleep apnea symptoms with positional therapy. The findings have shown that by changing the posture to lying on your side with the correct level of pillow that sleep apnea can be completely eliminated. According to one study around 68 percent of people with sleep apnea breathe much better when not on their back. If you are overweight aim to lose at least five percent of your body weight to improve breathing.

For some adults sleeping on the side can help breathing return to normal. Avoid heavy meals and caffeine at least two hours before bedtime. Most people breathe better when sleeping on their side. Thus sleeping upright is not a practical solution for sleep apnea.

If the pressure is too high you could experience air swallowing or a mask leak. However a 2002 study found that. Sleeping on the side is a very good alternative for cpap treatment or for dental appliances. Many patients with sleep apnea wrote to me that they don t use anymore a dental device or a cpap machine when they successfully tried positional therapy.

The tongue falls back and blocks the airway so sleeping on your side may improve sleep apnea and symptoms fotinakes adds that sleeping on your side or in a prone on your stomach position. Have shown sleeping on your back called the supine position can worsen symptoms. For extreme cases of sleep apnea a more upright seated posture using a prop cushion has shown to also remove this issue. If it s too low your cpap therapy won t be able to control your sleep apnea adequately.

There may also be potential changes in cpap therapy pressure requirements if you go from side sleeping to sleeping on your back. Sleeping on you back causes your airway to become restricted whereas sleeping on your side is the best sleeping position for someone with sleep apnea since it allows the airway to remain open. The reason is simple.