Featuring Paul Sweeney, RRT (Registered Respiratory Therapist)

Duration: 1 minute, 44 seconds

If you have high blood pressure and sleep apnea, there are various treatment options for this condition.

Sleep apnea is treated, commonly, through three different treatment options. But before we consider those three treatment options, there is some things you can do at home that are quite simple.

The first one being weight loss, which is commonly associated with sleep apnea. And also positional sleep aids, which sort of force you to sleep on your side so you’re not sleeping on your back and obstructing.

The most common treatment for sleep apnea is what’s called a CPAP machine, which is a machine that blows pressure into your throat to prevent it from collapsing. This is more commonly used for mild, moderate and severe sleep apnea.

But for patients who do not tolerate CPAP, or who have more mild sleep apnea, a dental device, which is a mouth guard which pulls the jaw forward and prevents the tongue from collapsing and falling back, is a common solution.

The third option to treat sleep apnea is surgery. This is not often the best option. It’s usually better for people with snoring, but it is a viable option if an ear, nose and throat doctor indicates that you might have the same blocked tissue or some excess airway blockage. Or, you may have a blocked nose or nasal passage issues.

If you think you have sleep apnea and you’re considering treatment, talk to your family doctor, respiratory therapist or sleep specialist and discuss your issues and your test results, and between the two of you you can decide what the best treatment option is for you.

Presenter: Mr. Paul Sweeney, Sleep Specialist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Sleep Specialist