25 Jun Lifestyle Changes That Will Immediately Improve Your Sleep Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea can be based on uncontrollable circumstances like family history, age and gender, but it can also be rooted in unhealthy habits. If you want to reduce your symptoms and feel more rested, here are three lifestyle changes that you should try immediately. 
- Starting CPAP Therapy
One of the first lifestyle changes you should make after your diagnosis is to start looking for sleep apnea help in Toronto and get a continuous positive airway pressure machine. A CPAP device will increase the air pressure in your throat, preventing the possibility of collapse and making sleep restful. Experts at ProfMed Healthcare Solutions can show you a variety of CPAP machines and masks so that you can find the best fit and receive the most effective solutions for your sleep issues. You can get a CPAP machine in Toronto from the nearest location and start using it every single night — you may also need additional products like contour pillows, bumper belts and nasal cushions to enhance your experience. If you don’t live directly in the downtown core, you can always find CPAP supplies in Richmond Hill and other locations like Mississauga, Milton and Barrie.
- More Exercise
Incorporating regular exercise into your weekly schedule will be a smart choice for improving your overall health and reducing the symptoms of sleep apnea. Getting active will also reduce your stress, boost your mood during the day and make it easier to fall asleep at night. Experts say that strength training, yoga and aerobic activities like cycling, walking and swimming are the best exercises for sleep — these don’t have to be high-intensity, long-endurance sessions because even ten to twenty minutes a day will be helpful.
Another type of exercise that you should practice focuses on the muscles in your mouth and tongue. Snoring is caused by relaxed throat muscles that create a narrow pathway for air to enter and escape, which vibrates when you breathe. With obstructive sleep apnea, the inner walls or your throat completely collapse and block the entire pathway. Oral myofunctional therapy asks patients to try certain exercises to strengthen these vulnerable areas. In the same vein, many have found that singing could be the cure for snoring because it can strengthen the throat muscles — vocalizations have been reported to make people breathe quieter and snore less than before.
- Cutting Down On Alcohol
Whether you go out for pints of beer with your friends every week or like to relax with a glass of red wine before bed, you should really think about changing your drinking habits for the sake of your sleep apnea. You may not even realize just how much alcohol messes with your sleep and how it worsens the symptoms of your disorder. As a respiratory depressant, alcohol relaxes your muscles and makes breathing harder for you — this is why people are more likely to snore when they are inebriated. The substance will also disrupt your sleep cycle so that you wake up multiple times during the night instead of reaching a stage of deep sleep. If you don’t know where to start, here are three suggestions for dealing with alcohol from this point forward:
- If you plan on drinking, give your body three to four hours of recovery time before going to bed. This means if you plan on having a cocktail with a 7:00 pm dinner, you should push your bedtime to approximately 10:00 pm and avoid night-caps from now on.
- When you are drinking, have lots of water to process the alcohol better, prevent dehydration and stop yourself from dealing with a hangover.
- Consider a trial period of complete sobriety to see what the absence of alcohol does for your sleep and other elements of your health.
Using CPAP therapy, exercising regularly and abstaining from alcohol will help you feel rested, alert and happy throughout your day. These three lifestyle changes are guaranteed to make a positive difference with your sleeping, along with your overall health.