Sleep Disorders Health Center

Font Size

Sleep Apnea - Treatment Overview

Treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) includes lifestyle changes, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) (to prevent the airway from closing during sleep), the use of dental devices (oral breathing devices) to help keep your airway open, medicine to help you stay awake during the day, and surgery. The goals of treatment are to relieve symptoms such as snoring and excessive daytime sleepiness and prevent other problems, such as high blood pressure. Your doctor will base your treatment on how severe your sleep apnea is.

Generally, your doctor will have you try lifestyle changes and CPAP first. Surgery might be a first choice only if the sleep apnea is caused by a blockage that is easily fixed.

You may need to be treated for other health problems before you are treated for sleep apnea. For example, people who also have inflammation of the nasal passages (rhinitis) may need to use nose spray to reduce the inflammation. People who have an underactive thyroid gland (hypothyroidism) need to take thyroid medicine.

Children have the same treatment options as adults. But surgery (tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy) generally is the first choice because enlarged tonsils or adenoids cause most cases of sleep apnea in children. Children are treated using CPAP if surgery is not possible or does not work.

Initial treatment

The first treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) consists of making lifestyle changes. Your sleep apnea may be helped if you:

Lose weight (if needed). Small studies have shown that losing weight decreases the number of times an hour that you stop breathing (apnea) or that a reduced amount of air enters your lungs (hypopnea).⁶ Experts agree that weight loss should be part of managing sleep apnea.⁶
Go to bed at the same time every night.
Sleep on your side. Try this: Sew a pocket in the middle of the back of your pajama top, put a tennis ball into the pocket, and stitch it shut. This will help keep you from sleeping on your back. Sleeping on your side may eliminate mild sleep apnea.⁷
Avoid the use of alcohol and some medicines, especially sleeping pills and sedatives, before bed. Taking Viagra (sildenafil) shortly before sleeping may make sleep apnea worse.⁴
Quit smoking. The nicotine in tobacco relaxes the muscles that keep the airways open. If you don't smoke, those muscles are less likely to collapse at night and narrow the airways.
Raise the head of your bed 4in. to 6in. by putting bricks under the legs of the bed. You can also use a special pillow (called a cervical pillow) when you sleep. A cervical pillow can help your head stay in a position that reduces sleep apnea. Using regular pillows to raise your head and upper body will not work.
Promptly treat breathing problems, such as a stuffy nose caused by a cold or allergies.

1 | 2 | 3

Next Page >

WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise

Last Updated: July 13, 2007

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information.