Sleep breathing issues can trigger a range of different problems, from insomnia as you keep waking yourself up to causing you to stop breathing. Not to mention that it rarely does your relationship any favors if you keep waking your partner up too. Surgery is an option for serious sleep breathing issues like sleep apnea, but that can be a little extreme. Luckily, there are some simple lifestyle tips you can follow to correct your issues without having to resort to more drastic measures.
Weight Loss
If you are overweight or obese then losing weight could help you to combat breathing issues such as sleep apnea. Excess weight creates fatty deposits in your neck, which can block your upper airway while you are asleep. This can cause you to snore as the air you breathe is being squeezed through a restricted airway.
Weight issues could cause compression in your chest wall, which decreases your lung function. This makes the upper airway more liable to collapse while you are asleep, causing breathing issues.
Exercise
Exercise, in general, can help you to combat sleep breathing issues, as it will help to reduce your weight and expand your airways, which means that you will be able to breathe more easily while you are asleep.
However, did you know that there are specific exercises such as mewing that you can use to specifically strengthen the jaw line and stop it from slackening while you are asleep? These exercises can work wonders on sleep breathing issues.
Quit Smoking
Giving up smoking can help you get a handle on sleep breathing issues in many ways. As it is an addictive habit, you will suffer from withdrawal symptoms during the night, which can disturb your sleep cycle and make breathing issues more likely. It can also cause other sleep issues such as insomnia.
Smoking increases the risk of sleep apnea because the irritants in cigarettes can cause swelling of the tissues in the airway. This can happen if you smoke but it can also cause a problem for passive smokers too. If your sleep breathing problems are being affected by those around, you then you might want to suggest that they quit smoking. If you share a bed, it might be in their best interests to give up the cigarettes.
Reduce Your Alcohol Consumption
Moderate to heavy drinking can increase the likelihood of you suffering from sleep breathing issues because it can stop you from breathing and increase the time it takes you to wake up and breathe again. This can be extremely dangerous and in certain cases, it can lead to death. In less severe cases, it will slow down your breathing and make it shallower.
Alcohol is a muscle relaxant, which means that after drinking it may relax your throat muscles. This can cause your upper airway to collapse, which can lead to snoring or sleep apnea.
If you want to control your sleep breathing issues, then you should cut down your alcohol consumption or cut it out completely. Failing that you should make sure that you don’t drink alcohol for a few hours before you go to bed, as this will give it time to work its way out of your system before bedtime.
Follow these four lifestyle tips and you will find it easier to control your sleep breathing issues. This means that you will be able to get a more restive night’s sleep, which will lead to less need for concern regarding your health. A good night’s sleep leads to a more productive day the next day too.