If you're one of the 18 million adult Americans who have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), it's crucial to see a doctor for treatment. Sleep apnea can interrupt your sleep, especially deep-stage slumber, and increase your risk for other health conditions.
Beyond seeing a doctor for sleep apnea treatment, there are things you can do at home to improve your sleep apnea symptoms. Some strategies have the added benefit of improving your health, reducing the risk of related medical conditions.
Here are the five self-care strategies most often recommended by experts for coping with sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea Tip 1: Lose Weight if You Need to
Obesity is considered the most important risk factor for obstructive sleep apnea. Research has shown that weight loss – even a modest amount -- can improve sleep apnea. Not all people with sleep apnea are overweight or obese, but many are.
In a Finnish study published in 2010, 71 people with sleep apnea were given lifestyle counseling or participated in a lifestyle modification program that included a 12-week low-calorie diet. On average, those in the weight loss group shed 16 pounds. After two years, their sleep apnea was much less severe than the sleep apnea in the lifestyle counseling group.
A U.S. study published in 2009 looked at the effect of weight loss on obstructive sleep apnea among obese people with type 2 diabetes. The people in the study were assigned to either a weight loss group or a diabetes management group over a one-year period. On average, those in the weight loss group lost nearly 24 pounds, while those in the second group lost just 1.3 pounds.
The effects of losing weight were even more dramatic in this study. Three times as many people in the weight loss group wound up with no symptoms of sleep apnea at all. And among the people in that group who still had sleep apnea, it was much less severe after losing weight.
Sleep Apnea Tip 2: Limit Alcohol and Stop Smoking
You already know that smoking and drinking too much alcohol are hazardous to your health. Did you know they can also make your sleep apnea symptoms worse? Cigarette smoking makes the swelling in your upper airway worse. That can aggravate symptoms such as snoring and pauses in breathing.
Alcohol decreases the muscle tone in the back of the throat, which can interfere with breathing -- the last thing you need when you already have breathing problems.
Sleep Apnea Tip 3: Eat Healthy
Like everyone else, people with sleep apnea should eat a healthy diet. But people with sleep apnea may be more likely to eat unhealthy foods, some research suggests.
Sleep deprivation may lead to increased cravings for carbohydrates. Sleep deprivation and fatigue have also been linked with changes in the appetite regulators leptin and ghrelin, which control feelings of hunger and fullness. When you don’t sleep, you may want to eat more and feel less satisfied when you do.
You don’t need to be overweight to have an unhealthy diet. In a 2008 study of 320 adults, those with more severe sleep apnea ate more protein, fat, and saturated fatty acids than those with the less severe sleep apnea, regardless of how much they weighed.
Sleep Apnea Tip 4: Tend to Your Allergies
Not surprisingly, being stuffed up from nasal allergies can complicate sleep apnea and make sleep more difficult.
To understand why, picture your airway as a long, muscular tube running from your nose to your windpipe. If your allergies are not under control, the tissues of the upper throat swell and narrow the airway. And that can make breathing more difficult.
If you have sleep apnea and nasal allergies, be sure your allergies are under control. A saline nasal spray before bed may also help.
Sleep Apnea Tip 5: Develop a Good Sleep Routine
Getting enough sleep is important to staying healthy with obstructive sleep apnea. The catch, of course, is that sleep apnea makes it difficult to get good sleep. A variety of devices designed to improve breathing for people with sleep apnea – including a CPAP or continuous positive airway pressure machine -- can help.
About half of the people with apnea have most of their breathing abnormalities while sleeping on their backs, sleep experts have found. So most doctors encourage people with sleep apnea to try to sleep in other positions.
If you have mild sleep apnea or heavy snoring, lying on your side may help. But how can you get into the habit? Some doctors suggest simply putting two tennis balls into a tube sock and pinning it to your nightshirt in back.
