Is it better to sleep with or without a pillow for sleep apnea?

While a pillow on its own won't cure your sleep apnea, it can potentially lessen the number of apneas you experience or make it more comfortable to wear your treatment through the night, greatly improving sleep quality and how you feel the next day.

Does sleeping without a pillow help sleep apnea?

A pillow elevates your head slightly above your body at night, allowing for an open, unobstructed airway. Getting rid of your pillow may cause your head to sink into your mattress and make breathing harder. For those with sleep apnea, elevating the head slightly can help promote better sleep.

What's the best way to sleep if you have sleep apnea?

Snoring and sleep apnea: Obstructive sleep apnea causes the airways to collapse during sleep, leading to pauses in breathing. It often goes hand-in-hand with snoring. Positioning yourself on your side or stomach can help the airways stay open to reduce snoring and alleviate mild apnea, Salas says.

Can your pillow affect sleep apnea?

For people who have sleep apnea — a condition in which you stop breathing periodically during sleep — pillows can interfere with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment. CPAP keeps your airway open by means of a bedside device that pushes air through a mask you wear while you sleep.

Does sleeping with head of bed elevated help with sleep apnea?

Head-of-bed elevation (HOBE) has been shown to effectively reduce OSA severity in small studies [13, 14].

The Best Sleeping Position For Sleep Apnea & Snoring

How many pillows should you sleep with if you have sleep apnea?

If you don't have a wedge pillow and want to elevate your head, you could try using several pillows to achieve a similar effect. However, if you don't get the angle right you could end up constricting your airways further! We usually recommend sleeping with one pillow that is suited to your sleeping position and needs.

How do I keep my airways open at night?

Sleep on your side.

Lying on your side, on the other hand, helps keep your airway open. If you find side sleeping uncomfortable or you tend to roll on to your back after you're asleep, countered side pillows or body pillows may help.

What type of pillow is best for sleep apnea?

Wedge pillows.

These triangular-shaped pillows can elevate your body position and provide relief from obstructive sleep apnea and other conditions, like acid reflux.

What worsens sleep apnea?

Use of alcohol, sedatives or tranquilizers.

These substances relax the muscles in your throat, which can worsen obstructive sleep apnea.

How do you treat sleep apnea without a CPAP machine?

What position makes sleep apnea worse?

Your Sleep Position

Sleeping on your back can make your sleep apnea worse— this is because your tongue can fall back towards your throat and press against your airway. Any extra weight or pressure, such as body fat, around your airway can block it while you're on your back also. Instead, try sleeping on your side.

Can you train yourself out of sleep apnea?

With so many instances of obstructive sleep apnea, exercises are one way patients can help improve sleep. As with weight loss, sleep position training, and other widely used methods to treat OSA, each can profoundly reduce apnea events and in some cases eliminate them.

Do breathe right strips work for sleep apnea?

Side Effects of Breathe Right Strips

Though nasal dilator strips may improve snoring, they do not treat sleep apnea. Using the strips to reduce symptoms may give a false sense of confidence in the effectiveness of the therapy.

What is the number one cause of sleep apnea?

In adults, the most common cause of obstructive sleep apnea is excess weight and obesity, which is associated with the soft tissue of the mouth and throat. During sleep, when throat and tongue muscles are more relaxed, this soft tissue can cause the airway to become blocked.

What wakes you up with sleep apnea?

When apnea happens, the brain wakes you up. These awakenings cause the disturbed sleep that plagues people who have apnea, also known as “sleep-disordered breathing.” Apnea tends to occur during sleep as the muscles that hold the airway open become relaxed.

How do you sleep with a pillow if you have sleep apnea?

Position Pillows

Sleeping on your back with your body elevated from the waist up may help keep your airway from collapsing and, in turn, improve your condition, the American Sleep Apnea Association says. Use foam wedges, not soft pillows.

What position opens your airways?

Lie on your side with a pillow between your legs and your head elevated with pillows. Keep your back straight. Lie on your back with your head elevated and your knees bent, with a pillow under your knees.

What position helps open airways?

Side lying with leg on the floor bent at knee

Slightly bend the knee of the leg you are lying on, with your top leg straight. Having your legs apart may also help. This position can help when you're breathless when you're resting, such as when your symptoms flare up.

What foods are good for sleep apnea?

Foods That Help

Asparagus, corn, cherries, grapes, broccoli, and cucumbers all contain this sleepy hormone. And, many recommend tart cherry juice as the best natural source of melatonin. Just make sure to brush your teeth after drinking juice, especially before bed.

How high should you elevate your bed for sleep apnea?

Sleep apnea and snoring

The researchers noted that tilting people 7.5 degrees in bed reduced OSA severity by 31.8% on average. This incline level also helped reduce shallow breathing and improve sleep efficiency. Research from 2020 studied the effect of different bed inclines on people who snored regularly.

Why do cardiologists ask how many pillows?

To gauge the severity of this symptom, doctors often ask people how many pillows they need to lie on to avoid feeling short of breath in bed. For example, "three-pillow" orthopnea is worse than "two-pillow" orthopnea, because you have less tolerance for lying flat.

How long between breaths is considered sleep apnea?

What is obstructive sleep apnea? Obstructive sleep apnea occurs when your breathing is interrupted during sleep, for longer than 10 seconds at least 5 times per hour (on average) throughout your sleep period.

What should you not do before a sleep apnea test?

You may be advised to avoid drinks or food containing alcohol or caffeine during the afternoon and evening before polysomnography. Alcohol and caffeine can change your sleep patterns, and they may make symptoms of some sleep disorders worse. Napping in the afternoon before a sleep study is discouraged.

Can an oximeter detect sleep apnea?

Pulse oximetry, a standard monitoring tool in respiratory care, plays a key role in diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea and other sleep disorders before oxygen desaturation contributes to comorbidities like GERD, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Can you use a nasal sleep apnea mask if you are a mouth breather?

Can you wear a CPAP mask if you breathe through your mouth? Mouth breathers can wear CPAP masks, but successful therapy depends on the type of mask worn. Full-face masks are usually the most effective for mouth breathers because they minimize air leaks.