Tag Archives: Sleep apnea

Straight, No Chaser: Quick Tips – You Snore Too Much

snoring
You snore too much.  What this means is your breathing is intermittently partially obstructed while you’re sleeping.  Snoring is the sound of air moving past that obstruction.  Whether serious or not, first you should know it’s common, occurring in about 50% of adults.    It could be serious or just positional.  Here are some Quick Tips for you.

  • Sleep on your side.  This should remove the tongue as a cause of a partial obstruction.
  • Avoid sedatives if possible.  Sedatives cause significant enough relaxation to the tissues in your throat to cause that partial obstruction.
  • Limit alcohol before sleeping (by about two hours).  Alcohol is a sedative.
  • Elevate the head of your bed or prop your head up by about 4-6 inches.  This should manually move partially obstructing tissue out of the way.
  • Fix what ails your nose.  If you have chronic problems with nasal obstruction or a deviated nasal septum, you’re more inclined to breathe through your mouth.  This will increase the chances that you snore.  Similarly, those nasal strips you may have seen work (when they do) by increase the area in the nose through which they can breathe.
  • Finally, losing weight (if you have it to lose) works by reducing the tissues in and around your throat that cause snoring.

It’s time to see your physician if you find yourself awakening from sleep choking, gasping or otherwise short of breath.  This could be an indicator of a serious condition, including sleep apnea.  Additionally, you may want to seek care if your sleeping causes functional problems (e.g. you or your partner have difficulty sleeping as a result of your snoring).
This is a significant enough issue that I will revisit it in the future.  In the meantime, sleep well.

Straight, No Chaser: Quick Tips on Bedwetting

bedwetting
Bedwetting (enuresis) is unintentional urination while asleep.  It could be part of normal bladder development or a cause for concern.  Most kids are toilet trained by 4 years old, and less than 5% of kids are still wetting the bed between ages 8-11.  Here’s some quick tips to help you figure out the difference.

  1. If your child is bedwetting below age 7, and no external cause is in play, you will most likely be reassured if you see a healthcare professional.  Specific treatments for bedwetting aren’t started until at or after age 7.
  2. If bedwetting occurs in conjunction with foul-smelling urine, pain or other discomfort with urine, urinary frequency or enhanced urge to go during the day, your child could have a bladder (urinary tract) infection.  Symptoms may be resolved with antibiotics.
  3. If bedwetting occurs in conjunction with a change in urinary color, this could be a medical issue.  Changes could include urine becoming pink, cloudy, bloody or clear.
  4. Many children who wet the bed also have constipation.  Resolving constipation has been shown to resolve bedwetting in up to 60% of children.  Be on the lookout for this.
  5. Is the bedwetting occurring with snoring?  This could be a sign of sleep apnea.
  6. It is very important for parents to appreciate the behavioral components in play.  Stress can be a significant contributor to bedwetting.  If you reinforce positive behaviors, resolution of bedwetting may occur sooner than otherwise.  If you are relatively unsupportive and critical, symptoms may linger and become more profound.  Techniques such as gold stars and other rewards have proven to be effective.

Despite the topic, this post was intentionally dry.  Good luck.

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