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Types of Sleep Apnea

Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra, Oakleaf, and Orange Park, Florida

Sleep apnea is not just one condition, it is several. They are linked by the common condition that breathing stops at night for several seconds, what is known as an apneic event. In response, your body partly wakens to resume breathing and restore oxygen to the brain. However, sleep apnea can be the result of many different causes.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form of sleep apnea. In obstructive sleep apnea the airway collapses during sleep, cutting off your air supply. This happens because the muscles that hold the airway open during sleep relax. Ideally, your airway should still be open, but anatomical variances, poor jaw position, and excess weight can all contribute to your airway's collapse. When this happens, your brain must partially awaken to open the airway and restore breathing.

Obstructive sleep apnea treatments include using an oral appliance to reposition your airway tissues by holding your jaw in place, using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine to pump air into the airway, holding it open, or surgery to alter the structure of the airway.

Central Sleep Apnea

Central sleep apnea is very different from obstructive sleep apnea. In central sleep apnea, the brain stops sending signals to the diaphragm to stimulate breathing. In order to restore breathing, the brain must come to greater wakefulness. Sometimes the apneic events can be prolonged--up to 2 minutes!--causing significant oxygen deprivation in the brain and heart.

Central sleep apnea is most often treated by CPAP, BiPAP, or medication, though no single medication has been found to be consistently effective in treating central sleep apnea. A significant number of central sleep apnea cases resolve spontaneously.

Complex or Mixed Sleep Apnea

In complex sleep apnea, a person is experiencing both obstructive and central apneic events. This can make treatment challenging. Most often, CPAP is the recommended treatment. In other circumstances, oral appliance therapy may be combined with medication to treat the two types of apneic events.

To learn more about sleep apnea types and treatment, please contact Blankenship Dentistry to schedule your sleep apnea consultation at our offices near Jacksonville, Florida.