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Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Causes, Symptoms, And Treatments

There are more ways than one by which you can lose your breath, but losing it in your sleep can have detrimental effects. Here is everything a guide to obstructive sleep apnea. If the problem is affecting your sleep, you must consult a sleep doctor Silver Spring.

What Is Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

“Apnea” is a Greek word that translates to “breathlessness”. Usually, when you fall asleep, your breathing is regular and there’s no “obstruction”. You inhale from the nose, the air goes into the larynx and then you exhale from the same passage. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

However, a condition where the air passage can be blocked and causes the air to get trapped in the throat is known as obstructive sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is essentially the stopping of breathing when you’re asleep. Usually, breathing starts like normal again after a couple of seconds, but if it doesn’t, then it can cause you to wake up with a start. Now that’s scary if you think about it.

Obstructive sleep apnea is caused when the throat muscles experience a blockage or obstruction and that prevents the air from passing to and from the passage smoothly. This can lead to a break or pause in the breathing. Again, it’s not very serious because the muscles automatically get rid of the obstruction and you can breathe normally again. However, in some cases, the pause can be greater than a minute and that can cause you to wake up suddenly. What follows after is a restless sleep and inability to fall back into dreamland, because you have that lingering fear in the back of your mind.

Causes Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

What’s interesting is that there is no definitive cause of sleep apnea. It can occur at any time and anyone can fall victim to this issue, whether or not there’s a medical history in your family.

As far as obstructive sleep apnea is concerned, there can be a couple of causes that could explain why the throat muscles suddenly get obstructed and lead to the inability to breathe.

  • Firstly, there’s obesity. If you’re extremely overweight, then your throat muscles can get squeezed from the surrounding muscles and when you go ahead and lie down, you will feel pressure on your throat, which can ultimately collapse or become obstructed, when your whole body is lax and you’re sleeping.
  • Another reason might be the structure of your head. Usually, people have different head shapes and that could alter the way the throat works, especially when it’s time to fall asleep and that can cause the air passage to become obstructed, hence leading to obstructive sleep apnea.
  • If you sleep in weird positions or don’t keep your head elevated, then that can also lead to obstructive sleep apnea. The relaxed muscles will move down and will lead to obstruction in the air passage.
  • Older people, those who are above the age of 50, have a higher chance of falling victim to sleep disorders. The main reason is that with age, the muscles start to loosen even more and there’s no elasticity in the tissues surrounding your throat. This can cause the throat to get blocked, especially while you’re sleeping and sleep apnea can occur.

So, if you are worried about your sleep and want to get yourself checked for obstructive sleep apnea, then a sleep study can be scheduled with your doctor.

Symptoms Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Now that you know what obstructive sleep apnea is, you can pinpoint exactly what you’re feeling, with the help of these symptoms and signs.

  • When you’re awake throughout the day, you might feel extremely tired and borderline fatigued. This is because you were unable to sleep, thanks to the obstruction that caused you to wake up suddenly.
  • You will want to snooze during the day because you’ll feel like your eyes are closing and you’ll have no energy.
  • If you suffer from anxiety, depression, and other mental disorders, then they can get aggravated when you haven’t had a good night’s rest.
  • Your memory might be fuzzy and you’ll tend to forget about things.
  • Your head will hurt a lot. It could be a cross between a normal headache and a migraine, but the underlying cause is inadequate sleep the night before.
  • You might or might not snore. Snoring is not a characteristic symptom associated with sleep apnea, because people can also experience breathlessness even if they don’t normally snore.
  • You might wake up in the middle of the night randomly with no memory of why you did it in the first place.
  • You can’t feel your breath stopping. This is something that your spouse or partner will be able to tell. They will suddenly feel like you’ve stopped breathing and that can be pretty alarming.
  • As soon as you wake up, you might feel like your chest is constricted, or you’ve just caught your breath. Some people also describe the feeling to be similar to that of heartburn.
  • Loss of focus, concentration, or a shorter attention span is noticed in people who suffer from obstructive sleep apnea. It can also graduate into more serious brain-related issues.

Treatment For Obstructive Sleep Apnea

There is no “cure” for obstructive sleep apnea. However, here are some treatments as well as preventative measures for obstructive sleep apnea, that can help you get a good night’s rest:

Oral Pieces

Try oral pieces for sleep. These contraptions help to keep your mouth slightly open so that the pressure can be regulated. If the pressure is optimum, then there won’t be any obstruction during sleep.

CPAP Machine

CPAP machines are also used by obstructive sleep apnea patients. These machines also regulate the pressure and prevent the blocking of air passages.

Weight Loss

As for preventative measures, if you’re overweight, then try to shed weight. It’s been found out that the patients who lost weight, experienced a significant decrease in obstructive sleep apnea and that they slept peacefully.

Keep Your Head Elevated

Another thing you can try is to keep your head elevated. If you normally use one pillow, stack two on top of each other and sleep on the elevated surface. It will keep your head in a perfect position and it won’t cause obstruction or blockages in your throat.

Find The Right Sleep Position

You can also try out different sleep positions. If you usually sleep on your stomach, try to switch to your back. You’ll feel a difference in no time. Several sleep positions can also lead to obstruction in the throat.

Nerve Stimulators

Nerve stimulators can also be used on the underside of the tongue. This allows the tongue to extend forward slightly so that it doesn’t put any weight on the windpipe while you are sleeping.

This is done by triggering the hypoglossal nerve. It’s the nerve that controls the movement of the tongue. A nerve stimulator will prevent the tongue from relaxing on top of the throat so that you can sleep better and not wake up suddenly.

Conclusion

Obstructive sleep apnea, even though it’s not life-threatening, can still be a worrying thing. Luckily, you know exactly how to combat the associated issues. You must visit a sleep clinic Clarksburg to get a treatment according to the severity of the problem.

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Health

Hidden Allergy Triggers And How To Avoid Them

Asian young woman suffering from allergies to cat's fur and sneezes. Attractive beautiful girl use laptop computer work from home and put tissue cover her nose while sneezing due to pet's fur allergy.

More often than not, allergies are caused due to negligence on our part because there are a handful of hidden allergens out there that could trigger an allergy almost instantly. This is why you should figure with the help of your allergy doctor which allergens you have to avoid. Here are some hidden allergy triggers and ways to avoid them.

Hidden Allergy Triggers

Triggers or allergens are foreign compounds that are found in nature, as well as in different foods and animals, that can go into the bodies of people with weak immune systems and lead to severe allergies and reactions because there aren’t any antibodies to help fight off this invasion.

Allergens, most of the time, are hidden and microscopic. This can lead to a lot of issues, especially if you’re trying to figure out what type of allergy you suffer from and what you should avoid in order to prevent allergies and reactions from getting aggravated.

Here is a list of allergens or triggers that can be hidden in plain sight and, once inside your body, can lead to harmful reactions.

  • Pollen from flowers in the spring and summertime.
  • Dust mites, especially in dusty and isolated places.
  • Hay or ragweed, which are dried plants and can cause allergies.
  • Pet fur, saliva, and dander can easily inflame the skin and lead to reactions in the body.
  • Insects that bite, like bees, hornets, cockroaches, and more.
  • Certain foods like wheat, nuts, milk, and dairy are indigestible by the stomach.

How To Prevent Severe Allergies?

Here are some ways by which you can prevent allergens from entering your body and causing allergies.

Make Lifestyle Changes

There are a lot of lifestyle changes that you can make if you’re allergic to certain things and want to prevent the allergens from making things worse.

You should try to strengthen your immune system, by starting to exercise, eating good food, and taking daily supplements and vitamins, because a lot of the time, allergies and their corresponding reactions are caused by deficiencies in the body that could lead to a weak immune system.

Get An Air Purifier

It’s best to keep your windows closed, especially if it’s a windy day out, but if you still want to get some fresh air circulation in your room, then you need to look into buying an air purifier.

An air purifier is like a filter, but for your windows, where it filters the incoming air from the outside and removes all sorts of allergens, toxins, and other harmful substances, so that you can breathe easily, without worrying about inhaling allergens.

Invest In A Humidifier

One of the worst parts about getting allergies is that your nose and throat get extremely dry, even if you’re not actively going through an allergic reaction. This is where an air humidifier will be handy. An air humidifier makes the surrounding air moist, by diffusing small water droplets through a machine that looks kind of like a facial steamer.

Although it is not exactly a device used to prevent allergens from invading your body, it’s still a good investment for people suffering from allergies. You can even add essential oils like peppermint, eucalyptus, and tea tree oil, to help soothe your nasal airways and you will see a huge difference in the way you breathe.

So, if this is something you suffer from, when getting an allergic reaction, then getting a humidifier is a good thing.

Carry Allergy Medicine

If you’ve already established that you suffer from a specific type of allergy and don’t want any unpleasant surprises, then it’s best if you carry your allergy medication with you at all times. You can carry your pills in your bag, in your pocket, or keep them in your car, in case of emergencies, so that you can treat the problem right away and feel better.

Try Allergy Shots

If you’re not a fan of constantly taking medicine, then you can also consider allergy shots administered in an allergy center Germantown. It is also known as immunotherapy and it’s a type of treatment, in which your immune system is exercised to be stronger, through the injection of allergens and triggers in your body. This invasion allows the body to fight off allergens naturally, by producing antibodies, and after a couple of appointments, you’ll see a significant difference.

Although immunotherapy is a great treatment option to consider, it doesn’t work for all kinds of allergies. So far, it’s been effective in getting rid of pollen, dust, hay, and some food allergies for good.

Choose Your Food Carefully

Food can also be the main culprit that can hide a lot of allergens in it. This is why you need to be careful when eating food, especially if you have a history of getting sick after eating foods like dairy, milk, cheese, nuts, oils, seeds, gluten, wheat, legumes, and more.

Food allergies are the most vigorous types of allergies and they can turn into medical emergencies pretty quickly, which is why you should be careful when making choices about what to eat, anywhere you go.

Maintaining A Good Hygiene

A huge chunk of treating and preventing allergies is by taking care of your hygiene. Good hygiene and clean surroundings will make all of the difference. You need to regularly change your clothes, even if you’re not going anywhere because allergens and triggers have a tendency to latch onto clothing and they can provide easy access to your eyes, nose, and mouth.

It’s also a good idea to shower as soon as you get home from outside because your skin can be covered in a number of allergens and you don’t want them going inside your body.

Eating A Balanced Diet

You can’t just rely on physical changes and hope that your allergies are gone for good. Aside from avoiding allergens, you should also make an effort to build the immunity of your body through a balanced diet.

After getting an idea about the food allergies and mineral deficiencies you have, it’s a good time to start making alterations in your diet. Try to eat whole foods, fruits, vegetables, legumes (if you’re not allergic), natural fats, and leafy greens. You can also get your daily fruit intake with freshly pressed juices and smoothies and those things are going to give you a boost of energy as well.

Take Proper Precaution

It’s good to be aware of allergens and triggers and this is why your own research matters a lot too. A lot of the time, people can turn a blind eye to matters like allergies and they tend to not take anything too seriously until the matter is out of their hands.

So, try to be cautious about your health and if you see any change in your health or a slight reaction to normal things, then you should immediately contact an allergist and get this problem sorted as soon as possible.

Conclusion

It’s good to know how hidden triggers can lead to severe allergies. Once you get rid of the root of the cause, aka the allergen or trigger, then allergies and reactions will be suppressed automatically. So, visit your allergy specialist Manassas for diagnosis and follow the treatments and precautions advised by your allergist.

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Health

Everything You Should Know About Partial Hip Replacement Surgery

Sick senior man with cane touching his back while talking to clinician on way to hospital

Hip injuries can be hard to deal with especially if people get them at an older age or because of a terrible accident. Here is everything you need to know about partial hip replacement surgery, how orthopedic surgeons perform the surgery, and things you should and should not do after the surgery.

Partial Hip Replacement Surgery

The hip bone consists of two parts: the ball and the socket. Normally, when the hip is injured beyond repair, it means that surgery will be done to replace the ball and socket with medical-grade prosthetics. This is a total hip replacement surgery. Partial hip replacement surgery is basically a surgery where only the ball of the hip joint is replaced. The socket is normally uninjured and doesn’t need any replacement.

Partial hip replacement surgery is also called a hemiarthroplasty. It is done by either cementing the prosthetic ball to the very core of the femur or it can be done by uncementing, in which there is a type of coating on the tip, which the bone attaches itself to.

Partial hip replacement surgery is less invasive than total hip replacement surgery, but the general procedure is pretty much the same and it may take some time in healing. This is why it is recommended that you shouldn’t push yourself too much after the surgery and let your incision and hip heal properly before you resume life activities. It’s for the betterment of your own well-being. If you try to overexert your newly replaced hip, then things can take a turn for the worse and you might end up doing more bad than good.

What Happens In Partial Hip Replacement Surgery?

Here is a general run-down of what happens in a partial hip replacement surgery:

You will be put under anesthesia. The anesthesia can either be local/regional or it can be general anesthesia. In local or regional anesthesia, the area undergoing surgery will be numb and you will be given extra drugs to feel sleepy, but you can also be awake for this process. In general anesthesia, you will be put to sleep for the entirety of the surgery and you will be woken up after the surgery is successfully completed. The type of anesthesia you receive depends on your general health and how quickly you can recover from the aftereffects. This is why a doctor will call you in for anesthesia fitness before the surgery.

Once you are under anesthesia, an incision will be made where the ball of the hip joint is present. It will be removed and another metal ball will be placed on the core of the femur, also known as the thigh bone. Once the position of the ball is perfect, it will be either cemented to glue it in place or it can be adhered to by a porous substance, which is safe for the body and bones.

Once that is completed, and it takes anywhere between 1 to 3 hours for this process to be completed, you will be taken off the anesthesia and your recovery time will start.

You may also have a catheter placed because, after this surgery, you will find it hard to walk, so it’s better to have a catheter because you can empty your bladder without having to get up and go to the bathroom every now and then.

Recovery After Partial Hip Replacement Surgery

Here are some things you need to take care of, post-surgery:

The recovery time is different for everyone, but the general rule of thumb is that you will be needing help to walk and move around for a couple of weeks. The recovery time for a partial hip replacement surgery is about 5 to 6 weeks.

After the surgery, you want to keep exertion to a minimum. This is why you will be given crutches to walk in, to alleviate the pressure from your hips.

Keeping your legs up will do wonders for you. If you keep your legs down for longer periods of time, there might be fluid retention in that area and it can lead to pressure buildup near the hips, which can cause a lot of pain.

Speaking of pain, after the surgery, you will be administered IV pain medication to help deal with any sort of discomfort you’re feeling. It’s completely normal for people to be in pain or feel pain near the hips or the incision, after the surgery. As time passes, your dependency on pain medicine will become less and less, until you don’t need them anymore. Your surgeon may suggest you pain management clinics Woodbridge for this purpose.

You will also need to be mindful of certain movements, which could injure or hurt your hip. This is why you should consult with your doctor about how further you can push your body to move and do things, without affecting the hip.

Things To Do And Not To Do After Partial Hip Replacement Surgery

Here are things which you should and shouldn’t do after partial hip replacement surgery:

  • Take advantage of the crutches. Without them, you might experience a lot of difficulty in walking, especially right after the surgery.
  • Don’t overdo it. Listen to your body and get in tune with it. You don’t want to put any unwanted stress and pressure on your newly healed hip.
  • Exercise! Not all movements are bad for your hip. In fact, some exercises might help you heal faster. You will have to join a rehabilitation program and they will tell you what kinds of exercises are best for you.
  • Have someone with you to take you to and from the hospital, because you won’t be able to drive until the doctor gives you the go-ahead. Usually, it takes about a month to 2 months for you to be able to drive again.
  • Focus on your diet. Create a diet plan that can speed up the recovery.

Potential Risks Of Partial Hip Replacement Surgery

Here are some risks of partial hip replacement surgery. Keep in mind that these things seldom happen, but as protocol, the patient should know about these things.

  • Nerve damage is a general complication in any type of surgery. There are nerve endings almost everywhere in your body and during surgery, the doctor needs to be careful, to not damage any nerves during the process. Nerve damage can lead to permanent numbness in the leg and even loss of sensation in other areas.
  • Blood clots can turn a hip replacement surgery into a full-on medical emergency. Things can take a deadly turn if the blood flow can’t reach the legs and other organs like the heart and lungs, and this normally happens because of blood getting thick and clotted in the veins.
  • Infection in the incision is also a common risk and it needs to be properly taken care of. Make sure that the incision doesn’t get wet and always look out for signs of swelling around the incision, and insanely high fever. If that happens, inform your doctor as soon as possible so that things can be controlled.

Conclusion

There you have it! Partial hip replacement surgery is different from total hip replacement surgery, and it can be done to heal the serious injuries of the ball and socket so that you can resume life activities as normal. Prepare for the surgery with the help of your hip replacement surgery surgeon Woodbridge for faster recovery.

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Health

30 Crazy And Weird Facts About Hair

You may know how to style or color your hair or where to get hair, but you may not know facts about them like everyone’s hair is unique to them. Whether you are losing hair and opting to get hair transplantation or someone with normal hair, these are some weird facts about your hair you need to know.

  1. The most common hair color in the world is black. About 92% of the world’s population has it. The rarest hair color is red with only 1% of the population and then blonde ranking the second rarest with 2% of the global population.
  2. Keratin is a protein makes up animals’ hooves, claws, and feathers. It also makes up human hair.
  3. About 500,000 men get hair transplantation every year.
  4. The most affordable hair transplantation technique in terms of risks and side effects is the plasma rich platelets (PRP) therapy.
  5. A wet strand of hair can stretch up to 30% of its original size.
  6. An average person has somewhere between 100,000 to 150,000 strands of hair on their head and shed up to 50-150 strands per day.
  7. Hair grows faster in summers. That’s because of the heat stimulates circulation in our body which promotes hair growth at a rapid rate.
  8. Hair is known to be the second fastest growing tissue in our body after bone marrow.
  9. Whenever a hair is plucked from its follicle, a new hair starts growing immediately. People with a deficiency of this ability consider hair transplantation.
  10. Hair is gender-free. Hair is the only part of a human that cannot identify a gender because men and women have the same structure of hair.
  11. The hair that has grown out of the body is actually dead. The “alive” hair is inside the epidermis which means the hair that we see are dead. This is also the reason eating well is associated with growing healthy hair.
  12. A strand of hair has a lifetime of five years.
  13. Hairs are the most important forensic evidence because they can tell what has ever gone in your bloodstream like drugs and alcohol.
  14. An average woman takes up to one hour and fifty-three minutes a week in styling, washing and blow drying their hair. 7 months in an average lifetime.
  15. Keratin, the protein from which hair is made of, is also found on the outer layer of nails and skin.
  16. About 90% of your hair is growing and 10% is sleeping or resting.
  17. A single strand of hair can support about 100 grams. An equivalent of two elephants if all of our 150,000 strands of hair are combined.
  18. Contrary to popular belief, a haircut doesn’t demote your hair growth, instead, it prevents split ends.
  19. Hair can be grown on every part of the body except for the palms, soles of your feet and lips.
  20. Hair color first gained popularity in 1950, the year when 7% of population colored their hair. According to a survey in 2015, 75% of women had colored hair.
  21. Hair contains about 50% carbon, 21% oxygen, 17% nitrogen, 6% hydrogen and 5% Sulphur.
  22. Goosebumps are caused when each hair muscle contracts causing the hair around the skin to bunch up when we are scared or cold.
  23. Blow drying is harmful because it can affect the shape of hair by changing hydrogen levels. Some types of hair cannot resist humidity and get skinnier and flatter making them frizzy.
  24. Our hair is like a wire. The outer layer is called cuticle which protects the inner layer by overlapping itself onto the hair.
  25. Damaged hair is caused because of the openness of these cuticles due to dryness.
  26. A strand of hair is longer than a copper wire with the same diameter
  27. Balding is visible when about 50% of your hair is lost.
  28. Hair can grow up to 0.3-0.5 mm in a day, 1.25 cm in a month and about 15 cm or 6 inches a year.
  29. Hair has properties of a sponge as it is used as a natural sponge to absorb oil from water.
  30. About 80% of Americans wash their hair twice in a day.

Here are some interesting facts about healthy hair. If you have some deficiency in hair growth then you should consider hair transplantation immediately.