Understanding the Importance of Sleep Studies

Undergoing a sleep study in Melbourne might seem like an unpleasant prospect. After all, no one wants to pack up their pajamas just to spend the night in a laboratory. However, the process may be much easier than you expect. Even more importantly, a sleep study can offer numerous benefits. This blog post explores what a sleep study is and how it may play a role in improving your health and your overall quality of life.

What Is a Sleep Study?

A sleep study, also called a sleep test, involves the use of sophisticated machinery that monitors you while you sleep. There are two basic types of sleep studies:

• At-home sleep studies allow you to take a monitoring device home for a night. You bring it back to your care provider the following day so they can analyze the results. At-home studies are often adequate for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea in Melbourne.
• Laboratory sleep studies use more sophisticated equipment and take more detailed data than at-home studies. They can aid in diagnosing sleep apnea and a number of other sleep disorders, such as forms of hypersomnia and parasomnia.

Benefits of Sleep Studies

Here are some potential benefits you may experience after you undergo a sleep study:

Accurate Diagnosis

Your doctor may be able to guess what kind of sleep disorder you have simply by talking to you and learning about your symptoms. However, a sleep study can confirm their suspicions and provide important details. For example, not only can it determine whether you have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), but it can also provide insight into how severe the condition is.

Customized Treatment Recommendations

Following your diagnosis, you will be in a position to receive the best treatment for your circumstances. For example, you might be an ideal candidate for a custom oral appliance, a small device that looks like a mouthguard. Its purpose is to reposition the jaw during sleep, thereby allowing for easier breathing and a large reduction in OSA symptoms.

Improved Health and Quality of Life

Did you know that untreated OSA is strongly associated with a number of serious health conditions? It is a risk factor for dementia, cardiovascular problems, type 2 diabetes, and mental health disorders, such as depression. Plus, being exhausted on a daily basis can interfere with your social relationships, downgrade the quality of your performance at work, and increase your risk of being in a motor vehicle accident. Proper treatment can significantly lower all such risks.

An Extended Lifespan

A number of the problems mentioned in the previous section, such as cardiovascular disease and motor vehicle accidents, can be life-threatening. Sleep apnea treatment can help you to manage or prevent such issues and possibly enable you to continue living until a ripe old age.

Treating sleep apnea could improve your life or perhaps even save it — and proper treatment begins with an accurate diagnosis. If you suspect you need a sleep study, now is the time to schedule one!

Meet the Sleep Apnea Expert

Dr. Kenneth Mogell has more than 10 years of experience in treating snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. He focuses primarily on providing oral appliance therapy. If you believe you have a sleep disorder, he and our team can help you arrange for proper testing. To learn more about how we may be able to serve you, get in touch with any of our three convenient locations or call us at 321-313-5350.