Natural treatment options for sleep apnea can be broken down into two main categories; lifestyle changes and herbs & minerals.
Contents
Lifestyle Changes:
Lifestyle changes can make a huge difference in the severity of sleep apnea, reducing the number of apneas per night and in some cases eliminating them completely. The most effective lifestyle changes are as follows: weight loss, quitting smoking, sleeping on your side rather than your back and avoiding sedatives before sleep.
Weight Loss:
Weight loss is an extremely effective natural sleep apnea remedy because it removes fat layers in the airways which makes it less likely that an obstruction will occur.
Quitting Smoking:
Smoking causes your airways to become inflamed, inflamed airways are more susceptible to being blocked as they are narrower. By quitting smoking you are able to eliminate this inflammation and reduce the risk of an obstruction occurring while asleep.
Sleeping On Your Side:
When you sleep on your back, gravity makes it more likely that your tongue will fall back. When the tongue falls back the chance of the airways becoming blocked is increased, by sleeping on your side you can greatly reduce the risk of obstructive sleep apnea. If you find yourself falling asleep on your side, but waking up on your back a good trick to use is to sew tennis balls into the back of your pajamas. This way if you roll onto your back it will be sufficiently uncomfortable so that you’ll quickly return to your side.
Avoiding Sedatives:
When you aren’t getting a good nights sleep, one of the first things that will pop into your mind is to take a sedative (such as a sleeping pill or even some alcohol) to help you sleep. The problem with this is that it relaxes all of the muscles in your body, including those in and around the airways (muscles that are taken out during sleep apnea surgery). When these muscles relax they reduce the size of the airway and make it more likely to become blocked or clogged which causes obstructive sleep apnea.
Herbs & Minerals
A number of naturopath’s have claimed that there are certain herbs and minerals which can be taken which can help with the treatment of sleep apnea. Because these claims are not based on scientific evidence diagnosingsleepapnea.com has decided not to post these. If you’d like to find out which herbs and or minerals might be beneficial in treating sleep apnea, we advise you speak to a registered medical professional first to get their taken on them.
Natural Sleep Apnea Cures
There are no cures for sleep apnea, natural or unnatural. That being said all of the above treatment options can lessen the occurrence and regularity of sleep apnea episodes and make it more manageable for traditional treatment options.
