What's wrong with sleeping without snoring?

Many people are used to snoring loudly when they or their families are sleeping, thinking that they are sleeping soundly and not taking it seriously, but snoring loudly is probably caused by potential diseases.

For example, one of the most common causes is obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

1. Snoring loudly.

Sometimes we have a slight snoring when we sleep because of a stuffy nose. This short breathing is too loud, so don't pay too much attention. But some people's snoring is not as simple as heavy breathing, but very loud, even in the living room can hear the snoring in the bedroom.

Not only will it affect the sleep of people around you, but sometimes it will wake you up. Snoring is sometimes persistent and sometimes intermittent.

Snoring is the loudest when lying on your back.

If snoring is the loudest when sleeping on your back, but it will be relieved or even suspended when sleeping on your side, you need to be vigilant.

3. Accompanied by intermittent apnea

If you don't just snore, but have intermittent apnea, such as 5-30 apnea per hour, or even more, you need to be vigilant. Some people's apnea can even last all night, which is not conducive to self-repair of the body and is easy to cause hypoxia in the brain.

Breathe after waking up

In addition to the above situation, some patients will take a big breath after waking up suddenly, for example, they need to take a deep breath to relieve the lack of oxygen in the body.

5. Sleepiness during the day

Snoring at night, poor sleep quality, listlessness and drowsiness during the day, and even falling asleep when going to work, watching TV and driving, it is easy to be agitated.

Other symptoms include dry mouth or sore throat when getting up in the morning, headache in the morning, night sweats at night, and decreased sexual desire.

If you have the above situation, sleep apnea is very likely, but there are also different types of sleep apnea, such as the most common obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

It is suggested that you can go to the hospital for further diagnosis through polysomnography and other examinations.

The most common is that the muscles at the bottom of the throat are excessively relaxed, and the nasal cavity and respiratory tract are narrow, which leads to the inability to breathe normally during sleep.

As above, it is a comparison between normal breathing and obstructive sleep apnea. Under normal circumstances, the muscles at the back of our throat can support the soft palate, hard palate, tongue and other tissues to make the air flow smoothly.

However, when the muscles of the larynx are excessively relaxed intermittently, such as drinking alcohol, these structures are not well supported, and the airway will be squeezed to narrow or close, which will hinder the gas from entering, thus leading to snoring, apnea, mouth-opening breathing and so on.

Diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea requires different intervention methods according to different degrees. For example, mild, may just need to change some habits. If it is serious, it has affected the oxygen acquisition at night or has other symptoms, and even requires surgery.

Specifically, there are four possible ways to treat sleep apnea.

1. Adjust lifestyle

Patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea can improve their symptoms by changing some lifestyles, including: losing weight, sleeping on the side, quitting smoking and drinking, regular exercise, short-term use of nasal congestion or anti-allergic drugs.

Wear oral appliances

Some patients with mild to moderate sleep apnea can ask the dentist to design a dental appliance to adjust the position of the patient's jaw and tongue. Wearing it while sleeping helps to keep the respiratory tract open.

Wear a ventilator

Use a ventilator when sleeping. When apnea occurs, the machine can lift the airway to prevent suffocation.

4. Surgical therapy

If the above treatment methods do not work or can't adapt, the patient may need surgery.

The specific treatment should be decided by the doctor considering the patient's situation comprehensively.