Do you know someone who stops breathing in their sleep? They snore and snore, and then all of a sudden the snoring stops and you notice they’re not breathing – at all. You wait, and you wait, and all of a sudden, just as quickly as they stopped breathing, they gasp and start breathing again. This crazy breathing cycle is actually a potentially life-threatening condition called sleep apnea. If you’ve never experienced it, you have no idea how scary it can be. However, if you know someone who has Anaheim sleep apnea, they need to seek help for it right away. It’s nothing to monkey around with.
Anaheim sleep apnea doesn’t just happen once a night, it actually can happen hundreds of times a night. One of the reasons it happens is that your muscles relax and your jaw drops back when you fall asleep. When that happens, the soft tissues in your throat, including your tongue, drop back and block your airway. Once your brain realizes that you’re not breathing, it jars you awake and you start breathing again. But the loss of oxygen and the stress hormones that are released when you’re not breathing can actually be harmful to your health if you don’t take care of this problem.
One of the things Dr. Chu can do for people with Anaheim sleep apnea is to fit you with a special dental appliance that resembles an orthopedic retainer or a mouth guard worn by athletes. This dental mouth guard is made specifically for you and fits your mouth comfortably while you sleep. The purpose is to hold your tongue and soft tissues in place so that your airway remains clear. With this special dental appliance in place, you will sleep soundly and wake up refreshed and ready to go the next day. So if you or someone you know has sleep apnea, have them call Dr. Darren Chu at 714-637-8003 and make an appointment for a consultation.
