Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious disorder that prevents your body from getting the restorative rest that it needs each night. It occurs when tissues in the upper airway cause pauses in breathing. If you have been diagnosed with OSA, or if you even suspect that you have it, it is natural if you have questions about the future. Will your sleep apnea ever go away, or will you have to manage it for the rest of your life? This blog post aims to help you have a realistic view of the road ahead.
What Could Cause Sleep Apnea to Go Away?
OSA is not like a cold or flu, which your body would normally handle without a lot of help. Rather, it is usually caused by anatomical factors that lead to airway obstructions. If nothing is done to address those obstructions, they will continue to occur.
Of course, some causes of breathing obstructions are temporary. For example, you might experience some pauses in breathing if your nose is congested due to allergies or a minor respiratory infection. As your body heals, your sleep quality should return to normal. If you are pregnant, your OSA might go away after you give birth.
In most cases, though, the underlying cause of OSA will not simply disappear without specific actions on your part. Some people find that if they lose weight, pressure on their airway is decreased, so their OSA symptoms go away. For other people, surgical intervention or orthodontic treatment can have airway health benefits that permanently address their OSA.
Prepare for Lifelong Management of OSA
Whether or not your OSA will go away depends on its cause and the treatment you choose. For most people, though, it is a lifelong condition that requires consistent management and monitoring.
The good news is that treating OSA will not cause a lot of inconvenience or disruption to your usual routine. Many patients find that something as simple as a custom oral appliance from their dentist, which gently repositions the jaw to allow for better airflow, is all they need to sleep well. Others have a CPAP machine, a device that uses pressurized air to prevent breathing problems.
Even if you do lose weight or pursue other treatments that may address the underlying cause of OSA, you should not stop your treatment without approval from your medical team. You may need to undergo a sleep test to find out for sure if you still have OSA.
Does sleep apnea ever go away? Well, sometimes. Talk to your care team to learn more about what is causing your condition and the best way to protect your sleep quality well into the future.
Meet the Practice
At Advanced Dental Treatment Center, our team is proud to offer oral appliance therapy for obstructive sleep apnea. We are also able to provide convenient at-home sleep tests. Two of our dentists, Drs. Farr and Wagner, even have advanced training in dental sleep medicine. To learn more about us or to request a consultation, contact our office in Greenfield at 414-209-7463.