At one time in your life, you slept well. Maybe now, not so much. This is something that is familiar to everyone suffering from sleep apnea. Thankfully, effective treatment exists in the form of CPAP machines. But how do they work? How do these machines actually help you regain a normal sleep pattern?
How CPAP Machines Help You Regain Sleep
The common misconception about obstructive sleep apnea is that it causes people to startle awake when they stop breathing due to blockage of their airway when the throat muscles collapse. While this is technically true, it’s not common for sleep apnea to startle you so much that you sit up in bed gasping for air. Instead, the interruptions in your sleep are almost unnoticeable “microarousals”, which is why many people who have obstructive sleep apnea don’t realize it.
Sleep apnea causes you to wake up many times at night (in extreme cases, sleep apnea sufferers can be interrupted hundreds of times in a night). These mini-wakeups disrupt your sleep pattern and are enough to cause you to feel tired throughout the day.
CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machines help patients with sleep apnea by providing a constant supply of gently pressurized air throughout the night. This continuous supply keeps the airway open so they can breathe and sleep through the night. CPAP therapy can even help reduce the snoring that is common with untreated sleep apnea.
When you are able to sleep through the night without waking up, you will feel less tired and more energetic during the day. This is how CPAP machines help you return to your lifestyle.
The Importance of Using CPAP Machines Every Day
CPAP machines are not something you can use every now and again in order to treat your sleep apnea. Unfortunately, they do not cure sleep apnea, they only manage its symptoms. Therefore, skipping a night of CPAP therapy will likely result in a poor night’s sleep, meaning you will generally feel more tired the day or two after.
This is the case whether you are staying home or traveling, which is why investing in a travel-sized CPAP machine is so important. Whether you are on the road, camping or hiking, flying to another country, or taking a family vacation, your CPAP machine should go with you everywhere. Traditional CPAP machines can be large and difficult to travel with. Travel-sized CPAP machines offer the same effective CPAP therapy in a package that is much smaller and more portable for use anywhere on the go.
Even if you already have a traditional CPAP machine at home, it’s beneficial for you to invest in a travel-size CPAP solution to sleep well and enjoy your life on the go.
