he tongue, soft palate, uvula (the triangular piece of tissue hanging from the soft palate), the tonsils and the side walls of the throat all rely on these muscles.
As you breathe in, the relaxation of these muscles causes your airway to narrow or close. The oxygen level in your blood may become lowered as you are unable to get enough air. In order to reopen your airway, your brain will rouse you from sleep. You won’t generally remember this awakening as it will be very brief.
Gasping, snorting and choking are also common results of this process. Many people with sleep apnoea will find they are unable to reach the deep, restful phases of sleep as the pattern of muscle relaxation and awakening can repeat itself anywhere between five and 30 times per hour, all night long.
Sleep Apnoea Testing
Your GP may refer you to a specialist sleep clinic for tests if they think you might have sleep apnoea. The clinic may give you devices to wear while you sleep that will check things like your breathing and heartbeat. You may be asked to stay in the clinic overnight, but in most cases the devices will be taken home and used there. This test will show you if you have sleep apnoea and, if so, how severe the condition is. The severity will be calculated based on your AHI score – how often your breathing stops when you are asleep.
If your condition is mild, your sleep apnoea will not necessarily require treatment.
If you want to learn more about sleep disorders and abnormalities, you might enjoy The Essential Guide to Insomnia from Need2Know Books, which covers the sleep process and the symptoms of insomnia, allowing the reader to identify the key causes to their condition. Whether you suffer from insomnia, sleep related eating disorder or another sleep disorder, you deserve to sleep soundly, and we want to help you achieve that!