It’s late. You’ve had a long, exhausting day and you can’t wait to get some rest. You snuggle under the covers, all wrapped up in your favourite PJs. Head resting on your cloud-like pillow, you close your eyes and start drifting off to sleep.
Until it begins… Just a murmur at first, escalating in volume one breath at a time before peaking into a thunderous crescendo you swear shakes the entire house. Your partner’s dreaded nighttime proclivity has reared its ugly head once again—snoring. But how do you make it stop?
What’s causing my partner to snore?
Snoring begins in the throat. As you sleep, your tongue muscles relax and your throat narrows, restricting the air passing through. The narrower the airways, the more the vibrations, better known as snoring. And if your partner sleeps on their back, the snoring only gets worse.
Snoring can be caused by any number of things, from excess body weight to drinking and smoking. More notably, it can be an early warning sign of sleep apnea. A common sleep disorder that affects millions worldwide, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the partial or complete obstruction of the upper airway. By limiting oxygen to blood cells and the brain, undiagnosed sleep apnea can lead to dangerous complications.
Marked by sudden awakenings throughout the night, sleep apnea impacts both sleep quality and general health when left untreated. Risks include heart attack, high blood pressure, and even diabetes. The good news? Not only can lifestyle changes help manage sleep apnea, evolving technology is more and more capable of getting you the shut-eye you need—like the first daytime treatment for sleep apnea, eXciteOSA.
Daytime treatment for apnea—is that even possible?
It sure is! While CPAP machines remain a popular way to treat sleep apnea while you sleep, eXciteOSA now offers an effective daytime solution, self-delivered any time during the day—even shortly before bedtime.
The rechargeable device features a soft, silicone mouthpiece that fits snugly around your tongue. When activated, the device delivers gentle electric currents for about 20 minutes. This soft stimulation helps strengthen the muscles in your tongue—the main culprit for blocked airways.
eXciteOSA comes complete with its own smartphone app that controls the device. The app also includes a specific six-week treatment plan and the ability to track changes in snoring over time. Continuing treatment once a week after the initial six-week period is recommended—it’ll keep those tongue muscles in tip-top shape!
Snoring keeping you up? Sleep apnea putting a damper on your rest? We’re here to help. Book a complimentary consultation and get back to sleeping without all that noise.
We wrote this post in reference to a journal on PubMed Central®. You can read the full journal here.
