Diagnosing Sleep Apnea – Northern Arizona

Discovering the Root of Your Sleep Problems

You must get a proper diagnosis of your situation before being able to undergo sleep apnea treatment. If you arrive at our office uncertain whether you have this disorder or not, our team is more than happy to walk you through the screening and testing process. Not only will we need to determine if sleep apnea is the issue, but we’ll also have to identify what’s causing your condition. In this way, we can more accurately prescribe the proper treatment plan to help you overcome the issue and achieve greater rest. Read on to learn more about the process for diagnosing sleep apnea or give us a call today to schedule a consultation!

Reviewing Medical History

One of the first things for us to go through is your personal and family medical history. We’ll ask certain questions about your health that can help point us in the right direction regarding the root of your sleep disorder. Some of the common signs and symptoms that we’ll look for include:

· Family history of sleep apnea or some other sleep disorder

· Insomnia, snoring, or daytime fatigue

· Obesity and other major risk factors

· Conditions linked to sleep apnea, like high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes

· Alcohol consumption or tobacco use

a doctor performing a physical exam on a patient

Physical Exam for Symptoms

A person’s anatomy can sometimes play a role in their risk for sleep apnea. For example, those with necks that are larger than average—17 inches around for men or 16 inches for women—may have tissues that can block their airways. A thicker tongue or enlarged tonsils might also raise the risk of developing sleep apnea.

That’s why our team will perform an easy physical examination of the areas of your body that can have an impact on your ability to sleep properly. We can also take a look at the size of your jaw and the way that your tongue sits within your mouth during rest.

Completing a Sleep Study

Should our team believe that you might have sleep apnea after your risk factor screening, we’ll order a sleep study for you—a test that involves you spending the night at a particular lab for testing. In some instances, you might be able to complete the test at home. In either case, you’ll typically wear a device to monitor your vitals, breathing, and brain activity during the night. Afterward, a sleep physician will review your results and provide your diagnosis. If it turns out that you do have sleep apnea, we can help you explore alternative methods to CPAP, such as oral appliance therapy.

Ruling Out Other Factors

While some root causes can be uncommon, our team will need to make sure no possibilities are left unchecked. We’ll make sure to rule out numerous factors so that our diagnosis is as accurate as possible. For example, women can sometimes experience sleep apnea symptoms because of hormonal imbalances. Certain medications or opioids can also increase the risk of this disorder. That’s why we might even need to order a blood test to eliminate this as a possible cause.

It’s worth noting that those who have been at an altitude of 6,000 ft or higher can have sleep apnea symptoms occur for about a few weeks following their exposure to low oxygen levels. If this is the case for you, notify us so that we can diagnose the issue more precisely.

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