Obstructive sleep apnoea is a particularly serious condition that is closely related to snoring. When an individual snores their soft tissues vibrate which ends up in the snoring noise. This is caused by the relaxed muscles making the airway smaller. The air has to travel faster and the soft tissues vibrate. With obstructive sleep apnoea the airway closes completely leading to a pause in breathing. These pauses in breathing can happen many times each hour and put the body under substantial strain. Untreated obstructive sleep apnoea is said to reduce life expectancy by as much as 20 years.
The gold standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea continues to be CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). The patient wears a mask to bed with a tube attached that pumps air into the airway and keeps it open. Understandably CPAP can be hard for many patients to put up with. An alternative to CPAP is an oral appliance worn in the mouth while asleep. These oral appliances are more accurately called mandibular advancement appliances. They are also known as mandibular advancement devices, or mandibular advancement splints, or mandibular repositioning devices.
These appliances work by holding the lower jaw forwards and in doing so maintain an open airway while sleeping. Perhaps not surprisingly opening a closed airway enough to stop the pauses in breathing is simpler than opening an airway enough to completely eliminate the snoring noise. Regardless mandibular advancement appliances can do both very effectively. They can be used for mild to moderate sleep apnoea, and severe sleep apnoea when the patient cannot tolerate CPAP.
The primary issue with these splints isn?t their efficacy, but rather the patient tolerance. As with CPAP machines some individuals can?t endure the oral appliance. Normally this is due to the appliance being uncomfortable due to its bulk. Or maybe the appliance introduces undesired vertical opening so that the patient can?t close their lips. Frequently there?s very limited jaw movement permitted. Which again is uncomfortable and can cause jaw stiffness in the muscles.
The new Somnowell mandibular advancement splint appears to deal with many of those problems. Unlike all the other plastic splints, the Somnowell is made of cast chrome cobalt alloy. Therefore it?s far less bulky and people find it much more comfortable. The Somnowell introduces almost no vertical opening, so the individual can close their lips without problem. And lastly the Somnowell permits free vertical and lateral jaw movement, this increases the comfort and reduces the possibility of jaw stiffness.
Could the Somnowell be the new gold standard in sleep apnoea treatments?
Loran Simon is a director at Somnowell. The Somnowell is the first chrome cobalt oral device used in the professional management of sleep apnoea. The Somnowell is considered by many practitioners to be the leading oral device for the treatment of sleep apnoea.
2012 holidays prosperity japan earthquake bosom buddies anderson cooper andrew bynum diplo
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.