You’ve been told your snoring is bad, probably a lot of times, and so far you’ve dismissed it.
But if you wake up exhausted regardless of how many hours you slept, your snoring may be a sign of something else happening while you’re unconscious.
Snoring and sleep apnea evaluations near Tysons Corner, VA separate harmless noise from a condition actively affecting your health.
Snoring and Sleep Apnea May Go Hand in Hand, But You Can Snore Without Having Sleep Apnea
Snoring is the sound produced when soft tissues in your upper airway vibrate as air passes through during sleep.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is what happens when those tissues don’t just vibrate but partially or completely collapse.
This can block your airway for seconds at a time, and it can happen repeatedly throughout the night.
Your brain then briefly rouses you to restore breathing.
The result is fragmented sleep that leaves you unrested no matter how many hours you were in bed, and you’re often completely unaware that it’s even happening.
That’s Why Sleep Apnea Often Goes Undiagnosed for a Long Time
You’re just tired, always. And you’ve blamed it on your schedule, your stress, your age, or any number of reasonable-sounding explanations.
These Symptoms Suggest You Need Snoring and Sleep Apnea Evaluations Near Tysons Corner, VA
If any of these apply to you, you should schedule an appointment:
You wake up feeling unrefreshed, regardless of sleep duration.
Your partner has told you that you stop breathing in your sleep.
You experience morning headaches that clear within an hour of waking.
You’re excessively sleepy during the daytime.
You wake frequently to urinate.
You have difficulty concentrating and / or notice mood changes connected to sleep quality.
An ENT Will Evaluate Your Airways
Your ENT specialist’s role is to identify the anatomical factors contributing to your snoring or airway collapse.
Nasal endoscopy provides direct visualization of your nasal passages, soft palate, tongue base, and throat to identify where obstruction or tissue excess is occurring.
They may also include imaging to assess airways and identify contributors like a deviated septum, enlarged tonsils, or excess soft palate tissue.
They May Recommend a Sleep Study Too
An ear, nose, and throat evaluation and a sleep study serve different but complementary purposes.
A sleep study, which may be conducted in a lab or at home, measures the number and severity of your respiratory events during sleep.
This is what formally diagnoses sleep apnea and classifies how severe it is.
Your ENT will review the findings to determine a treatment approach that best targets the source of your obstruction.
There Are Treatment Options for Both Conditions
Treatment depends on a number of individual variables, including your anatomy, your sleep study results, and your preferences.
It may include options such as:
Septoplasty or turbinate reduction
Tonsil and / or adenoid removal
Soft palate procedures to reduce tissue that collapses during sleep
Hypoglossal nerve stimulation for appropriate OSA patients who cannot tolerate CPAP
CPAP or oral appliance therapy for sleep disorders when needed
Your snoring and sleep apnea evaluations near Tysons Corner, VA give your provider the complete picture needed to recommend a treatment path that addresses where the problem is originating rather than managing symptoms without understanding their source.
Stop Waking Up Tired Every Morning When ENT & Facial Plastic Surgery Can Help!
Our team evaluates snoring and sleep apnea with the clinical tools to identify your anatomy and the treatment options to address it.
Call our office at 703-448-0005 today, and let’s figure out why sleep isn’t restoring you the way it should. You deserve a good night’s rest every night!
