The holiday season can be kind of a mixed bag. While it's often a wonderful time of year to celebrate with family and friends, it can also be expensive, stressful, and busier than busy.

So you've done your research and discovered that you may have the symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). You've even come to the conclusion that your snoring, nocturnal breathing cessations, daytime drowsiness, and restless sleep may be causes for concern, but you're still not quite sure if it's worthy of a visit to the doctor's office.

AtThe Alaska Sleep Clinic, we want to help you on your road to healthier sleeping habits. That's why we've created a guideline to help you through the steps from when to contact a doctor to methods of diagnosing OSA, and treatment options. 

Does this scenario sound familiar?  You have a snoring problem.  You come into a sleep lab to have a sleep study conducted and find out you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea.

The next thought is “ok, so how do I treat my sleep apnea?”

Is your partner's loud snoring keeping you awake at night? Do their frequent pauses in breathing and gasping for air when they start again making you afraid for their health? If so, it may be time to talk to your bed-partner about getting treatment for their snoring.

Approximately 20 million American adults suffer from sleep apnea, so it may not be much of a stretch to believe that your loved one may be one of them.

"There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such thing as a dumb question." – Carl Sagan.

When it comes to proper treatment for any health condition, patient education is often the most crucial aspect in compliance with therapy. Patients that are uninformed about their disorder and treatment options are among the first to quickly abandon therapy. It's sad to see patients go through the process of exploring their symptoms, seeking diagnosis, and getting set-up with treatment, only to discontinue treatment after a short time. And one of the biggest factors for patients quitting treatment is a lack of quality education from medical professionals about the necessity of continued therapy.