OSA & Snoring Clinic

Diagnosis

Your doctor will evaluate your condition based on your signs and symptoms, an examination, and tests. He or she might refer you to a sleep specialist for further evaluation.

During the physical examination, your doctor will examine the back of your throat, mouth and nose for extra tissue or abnormalities. Your doctor might measure your neck and waist circumference and check your blood pressure.

A sleep specialist can conduct additional evaluations to diagnose your condition, determine the severity of your condition and plan your treatment. The evaluation might involve staying at a sleep center overnight to monitor your breathing and other body functions as you sleep.

Tests

Tests to detect obstructive sleep apnea include:

• Polysomnography. During this sleep study, you're hooked up to equipment that monitors your heart, lung and brain activity, breathing patterns, arm and leg movements, and blood oxygen levels while you sleep.

  You might be monitored all night, or part of the night in a split-night sleep study.

  In a split-night sleep study, you'll be monitored during the first half of the night. If you're diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, staff may wake you and give you continuous positive airway pressure for the second half of the night.

  This sleep study can also help look for other sleep disorders that can cause excessive daytime sleepiness but require different treatments, such as leg movements during sleep (periodic limb movements) or sudden bouts of sleep during the day (narcolepsy).

• Home sleep apnea testing. Under certain circumstances, your doctor may provide you with an at-home version of polysomnography to diagnose obstructive sleep apnea. This test usually involves measurement of airflow, breathing patterns and blood oxygen levels, and possibly limb movements and snoring intensity.

 

Treatment

Lifestyle changes

For milder cases of obstructive sleep apnea, your doctor might recommend lifestyle changes:

• Lose weight if you're overweight.
• Exercise regularly.
• Drink alcohol moderately, if at all. Don't drink in the hours before bedtime.
• Quit smoking.
• Use a nasal decongestant or allergy medications.
• Don't sleep on your back.
• Avoid taking sedative medications such as anti-anxiety drugs or sleeping pills.

If these measures don't improve your sleep or if your apnea is moderate to severe, then your doctor may recommend other treatments. Certain devices can help open up a blocked airway. In other cases, surgery may be necessary.