Will My Sleep Apnea Go Away On Its Own? 

Like millions of other Americans with sleep apnea — the condition affects up to 30% of the adult population in the United States — you struggle to get a good night’s sleep, to say nothing of those around you. 

If you’re hoping that your sleep apnea will somehow get better on its own, your odds aren’t very good, and, in the meantime, you’ll still be losing sleep and increasing your risk for other health conditions.

At Michigan Avenue Primary Care, our team of primary care healthcare providers has considerable experience helping patients navigate the world of sleep apnea. The good news is that it can be done — but not if you don’t act.

A quick look at sleep apnea

To kick off this discussion, let’s quickly review what we’re up against with sleep apnea  — and please note that we’re talking about obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

With OSA, tissues at the back of your throat collapse while you sleep, temporarily blocking your airways. When this happens, you’re unable to breathe freely, and your brain wakes you just enough to clear your airways to take a breath.

If this only happened once or twice during the night, there wouldn’t really be a problem, but most people with OSA experience these episodes dozens of times during the night, and even dozens of times each hour.

Not only do people with sleep apnea lose sleep, which can lead to daytime fatigue, but they’re also at risk for bigger health issues, such as high blood pressure.

The causes of sleep apnea

There are many contributing factors to sleep apnea, and we’ll go over some of the more common ones, which include:

• Having obesity, which applies to two in five adults in the US
• Being male
• Heredity
• Anatomy
• Age
• Certain lifestyle factors, such as drinking and smoking
• Sleep position

As you can see from this list, there are many drivers of OSA over which you have little to no control, which is why you should seek help, because these contributing factors aren’t going away.

Addressing sleep apnea

When patients come to see us for sleep apnea, our primary goal is to help them breathe easier at night. Some great frontline treatments accomplish this, namely:

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine

With this treatment option, you wear a mask over your face that delivers air into your mouth while you sleep to keep your airways open.

Oral appliances

You can also place oral appliances in your mouth that either hold your tongue forward or keep your lower jaw forward, both of which can prevent the soft tissue collapse in the back of your throat.

If the CPAP machine or oral appliance doesn’t work, there are procedures we can suggest that will remove some of the soft tissues.

We also recommend addressing those risk factors over which you have some control. For example, losing weight can go a long way toward remedying your sleep apnea. And the same goes for reducing alcohol consumption and quitting smoking.

So, instead of losing sleep waiting for your OSA to fade away on its own, which it likely won’t, why not get proactive and seek our help? To get started, please contact us at our Chicago, Illinois, clinic, which is located in The Loop, to schedule an appointment. You can also visit our urgent care center during operating hours, M-F, 8 am to 4 pm.