How can positional therapy help you to sleep better? What type of sleep apnea patients can be treated with this therapy?
We all heard the argument that if you elbow a snorer and they roll over, their snoring will stop. In some cases, this actually works and after rolling over, the snorer and the person doing the elbowing both get a good and quiet night's rest.
There are devices that you can purchase that help the snorer to sleep in a position that encourages less snoring, like bumper belt or anti snore shirt from Rematee. The idea behind them is that if the snorer's body is in a certain position the airway through their throat will be more open and that allows a clearer passage of air.
The more air that gets through, the less likely the person is to snore.
Sleeping on the side can also successfully treat sleep apnea, when your condition is worse while sleeping on the back (lying flat). That's why during sleep studies, the technician wants some of your sleep while on your back - so that they can see if your sleep apnea is positional.
And that's why understanding your sleep study results is helpful - it shows how bad was sleep apnea in the different positions you were sleeping.
This video from Rematee shows the relationships between sleep apnea and side sleeping:
According to the experts at the American College of Chest Physicians in the october 2005 issue of "Chest" magazine, as many as 60% of the patients with obstructive sleep apnea experience a lowering of symptoms when they slept on their side as opposed to their back.
They estimate that as many as 50% of the people that experience sleep apnea could be successfully treated by using positional therapy.
Positional therapy is better explained in Sleep Medicine: Essentials and Review book. You will learn that positional sleep apnea has been defined as obstructive sleep apnea in which the supine apnea hypopnea index (AHI) is at least twice that of sleep in a non-supine position (on the side).
So, are you a patient with positional sleep apnea? Have you received a copy of your sleep study report? Are there other issues? What is your oxygen saturation level when sleeping on the side? What about your apnea events?
You need to answer to these questions, because without this information it's impossible to make suggestions about your sleep apnea treatment, including side sleeping therapy.
The advantage: Patients with positional sleep apnea have a greater likelihood of being less overweight and of having lower AHI compared with patients whose apnea is present in all positions.
The explanation: In many patients with obstructive apnea, the upper airway is most vulnerable to collapse during supine sleep. Due to the effects of gravity, the tongue tends to be displaced closer to the posterior pharynx. There is, thus, greater reduction of the pharyngeal area in a supine than side sleeping position.
The solution: If your respiratory events occur exclusively or predominantly during a supine position and if your sleep study results demonstrates a normal apnea index in the lateral posture, then sleeping on the side or elevation of the head can be tried.
Techniques available for positional therapy include:
placing three to four tennis balls in a pocket sewn on the back of a pajama top.
pinning a sock filled with tennis balls to the back of a sleep garment.
sleeping with a filled backpack.
sleeping with a bumper belt or anti snore shirt.
using a posture alarm that is triggered whenever a person remains in a supine position.
elevating the head and trunk at a 30 - 60 degree angle.
The solution with the bumper belt or anti snore shirt are the most comfortable. You can see how Rematee works in this video:
Bottom line... If you have snoring or mild obstructive sleep apnea, you can be treated with positional therapy.
You can find if you have positional sleep apnea if you read your sleep study results, or if your bed partner tells you that you sleep better when you sleep on the side.
If you use positional therapy as your treatment for sleep apnea, you should also use other general measures of treatments, such as:
avoidance of alcohol and sedative-hypnotic drugs ( benzodiazepines, barbiturates, narcotics) that can depress breathing during sleep.
for obese patients, weight loss is another important step in eliminating the risk factors for sleep apnea and snoring.
maintenance of a regular exercise program as much as possible.
discuss with your doctor before trying to treat sleep apnea with positional therapy.
If you don't like our t-shirt, tank top or night gown it's no problem.You can buy JUST the bumper patch and attach it to what ever you like.Simply attach the Bumper Patch to your preferred pj top and enjoy a great night sleep.
book. You will learn that positional sleep apnea has been defined as obstructive sleep apnea in which the supine apnea hypopnea index (AHI) is at least twice that of sleep in a non-supine position (on the side).
