If you snore, you may have a sleep disorder affecting 20 million Americans (American Academy of Sleep Medicine). It's called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Your ENT physicians at Tan Head and Neck Center in Long Beach, CA, helped scores of patients who have OSA with CPAP. Drs. Jesse Tan, Jesus Tan, and Rose Eapen wish to control OSA and its dangerous side effects.

More Than Snoring

While that's the main symptom of obstructive sleep apnea, it's not the end of the story. OSA also causes frequent interruptions in your breathing. As such, you wake several times an hour due to oxygen deprivation. Besides sleeping poorly and feeling fatigued and foggy during the day, OSA patients suffer from serious health problems such as:

• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Hypertension
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Dementia
• Type-2 diabetes

And, interpersonal relationships change as spouses and other family members cannot sleep well because of the incredibly loud snoring.

What Can Help

To uncover the reasons behind snoring, see your otolaryngologist at Tan Head and Neck Center in Long Beach, CA. He or she will perform an ear, nose, and throat exam and may advise a monitored sleep study to confirm the diagnosis of OSA.

Most people with OSA have some physical attributes in common. They include:

• Being overweight
• Large neck circumference
• Middle age
• Male
• Large tonsils
• Sinus deformities or repeated sinus infections

Also, they may engage in lifestyle habits that facilitate sleep disorders--sleeping on the back, smoking or drinking too much alcohol, as examples. As part of a treatment plan, your physician may advise changes to your habits of daily living, surgery modification of throat or sinus tissue, or oral appliance therapy which adjusts the lower jaw.

Finally, your care plan may include the use of a CPAP machine. The National Sleep Foundation calls CPAP, or Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, the superior way to manage the symptoms of sleep apnea.

CPAP and You

If Drs. Tan, Tan, or Dr. Eapen prescribe CPAP therapy for you, expect to wear a facial mask at night, and every time you sleep. The mask, connected with a long hose to a bedside machine, delivers an uninterrupted stream of air into the back of the throat.

This effectively opens the airway and keeps it patent through the night. Snoring all but disappears, and patients breathe and receive the oxygen they need for proper rest and vibrant health. The National Sleep Foundation says CPAP therapy works.

Sleep Well and Feel Great

Control your sleep apnea with CPAP therapy from Tan Head and Neck Center in Long Beach, CA. For more information or to arrange a consultation with Dr. Jesse Tan, Dr. Jesus Tan, or Dr. Rose Eapen, phone us at (562) 988-8818.