Sleep Apnea
What is sleep apnoea?
Obstructive Sleep Apnoea occurs when the airway becomes obstructed during sleep due to the walls of the throat collapsing blocking the upper airway. This causes the brain to register the drop in oxygen and slightly wake the person, just enough to engage the muscles to allow breathing to recommence. This can happen many times a night.
In need of a good nights sleep? We have many speciality areas, including naturopathy, which offer complete natural healthcare solutions to treat sleep apnea and begin your journey towards optimum health and well being.
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Symptoms of sleep apnea
Symptoms of sleep apnea can include:
- Snoring
- Gasping, choking or snorting during sleep
- Daytime tiredness (regardless of how much sleep you are getting)
- Low energy levels
- Trouble concentrating
- Morning headaches
- Restless or interrupted sleep
- A sore throat in the morning
- Dry mouth in the morning
- Mood changes or irritability
- Waking to go to the toilet often during the night
Sufferers can experience one or more of these sleep apnea symptoms.
Causes
The common causes of sleep apnea can be:
- Being obese or over eight
- having a large neck
- A family history of obstructive sleep apnea or other sleep disorders.
- 65 years +
- Smoking or excessive alcohol consumption
- Shape of the face and size of facial muscles
- Medication - eg. sleeping tablets or sedatives
- Large tonsils or adenoids (particularly in children)
Sleep apnea treatment
If left untreated sleep apnea can contribute to many serious conditions such as high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, stroke, diabetes or heart failure. Lifestyle changes such as reducing weight, quitting smoking, avoiding alcohol and medications which make you sleepy and adjusting your sleeping position (sleep on your side) can decrease the incidence and severity of sleep apnea.
Our wellness team will assess each case of sleep apnoea individually. Our aim is to treat the cause of the problem, not just the symptoms. As you can see from the list above the causes can be many and varied.
Acupuncture has been shown be very effective in treating sleep apnea. Our TCM practitioner and experienced Naturopaths will provide you with the knowledge and assistance to treat your sleep apnea and have you breathing better and living easier.
Specific Therapists
Greg Bantick has been in practice since 1975 in a wide variety of clinical settings. He has particular interests in dermatology, digestive, mood and auto-immune disorders. He is registered as a Chinese herbalist, pharmacist and acupuncturist with AHPRA CMR0001733690.
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Tina has over 40 year’s clinical practice in natural therapies. As a practitioner in naturopathy and acupuncture, Tina has remarkable insight coupled with a caring nature and is a beacon of hope for those she cares for.
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