Dumb therory question

[ywp]

I have the following question for which has been troubling me.

If the physical cause of an apnea event is the force of gravity pulling the tongue and palate down into the airway. It would seem the best solution would be to sleep face down and use gravity to pull the air way open?

Before the first experimenters decided to hook a hair drier to a mask and blow the air way open. Or, take a knife to it. They too must have tried other simple solutions.

Before I cut a face sized hole in my mattress so I can sleep face down. Can some one save me by giving a explanation of why this would be a waste of time Probalbly I am missing some important fact,

[roster]

Should work well. Post photos please.

[smurf]

I'm in!!!!! Pictures, I love Pictures......

[jnk]

" . . . positional therapy is best reserved for patients with mild OSA (Apnea Hypopnea Index [AHI] of 5 to 15 events per hour) with polysomnographic evidence that their AHI score normalizes in the nonsupine position. . . ."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... _n28023918

[jnk]

". . . detect sleep positions that can aggravate OSA (such as sleeping in the prone position) . . ."

http://blue.regence.com/trgmedpol/surgery/sur142.html

[mymontreal]

If this is something you are going to try, what about also taking the opposite approach of Acid-Reflux...

What about raising the FOOT of the bed by 4 inches or so to give gravity a helping hand.

Of course if we are talking extremes, you could always try sleeping upside-down from the ceiling... actually, isn't that what bats do & I have NEVER heard of a documented case of a bat with OSA...

Mike

[jnk]

Mike,

I generally like all your movies, but in this last one, The Joker really scared me.

jeff

[Georgio]

Or, what about a device that would pull your tongue out of your mouth during the night to keep the airway open?

Have they investigated this?

[Wulfman]

I have the following question for which has been troubling me.

If the physical cause of an apnea event is the force of gravity pulling the tongue and palate down into the airway. It would seem the best solution would be to sleep face down and use gravity to pull the air way open?

Before the first experimenters decided to hook a hair drier to a mask and blow the air way open. Or, take a knife to it. They too must have tried other simple solutions.

Before I cut a face sized hole in my mattress so I can sleep face down. Can some one save me by giving a explanation of why this would be a waste of time Probalbly I am missing some important fact,

That's not the only physical cause of "Obstructive" Sleep Apnea......and mainly applies to those who sleep on their backs (supine position). Other causes are airway collapse and restriction in the nasal passages (enlarged turbinates and deviated septum) which would cause a person to mouth-breathe and thereby suck their tongue backwards and close off airflow. "Central" and "Mixed" apneas are other, more complicated causes.

Den (not about to become a stomach-sleeper)

[Goofproof]

For backsleeping, a tongue ring, fishing string and large a party balloon. Jim

[-SWS]

For backsleeping, a tongue ring, fishing string and large a party balloon. Jim

What a coincidence... That's exactly how we fish for sturgeon during our afternoon naps up at the cottage!

[ywp]

JNK I read your links, interesting. A million dollars worth of procedures, and I guess none of them are 100 % effective

Didn't realize how much the rest of you love the hose.

My first sleep study I spent most of the night on my side and had a 0 AHI. Spent a couple hours on my back with a AHI of 30. I think the tech. was napping himself. Tritration same thing. Numbers on pressure were messed up. The doctor declared I needed a 7. I demanded they repeat the second study. Instead they gave me a bi-pap tritration and declared I was a 9-14 (the numbers looked worse than without treatment). Went against doctors orders and bought a APAP and a o2 meter. My doctor says APAP and the data is joke, Only a skilled professional can preform these task. So far my 90% is hitting my max. setting of 15. I am going to slowly open up my max. setting. Must be a better way than paying thousands of dollars with people that don't have a clue.
All my dealings with the sleeping disorder profession have felt like I was getting mugged

[Snoredog]

should work well, once again Costco comes through for only $269:



Supports the face, even has a shelf to store your slop err drool bucket

[-SWS]

" . . . positional therapy is best reserved for patients with mild OSA (Apnea Hypopnea Index [AHI] of 5 to 15 events per hour) with polysomnographic evidence that their AHI score normalizes in the nonsupine position. . . ."

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... _n28023918

I would posit that prone sleeping can be beneficial or counterproductive, depending on a few physical attributes in combination. If you have a lot of body mass bearing down on the sleeping surface, for instance, diaphragmatic effort can conceivably become strained----having to essentially lift that mass. A disproportionately large stomach would conceivably intensify that problem as well. In this physiologic scenario prone sleeping thus conceivably causes or exacerbates "obesity-related hypoventilation". And I agree about gravity's potential to exacerbate GERD in the prone position.

Conversely a relatively slender person with a sagging soft palate might receive very good results sleeping in the prone position I would think.

Looking at Snoredog's photo from Costco... That was nice of them to put a CPAP shelf right below the face rest! That gives us the luxury of using a 4" CPAP hose should the urge unexpectedly strike...

[roster]

Or, what about a device that would pull your tongue out of your mouth during the night to keep the airway open?

Have they investigated this?

Yep, that one is being done:



http://www.aspiremedical.com/
http://www.aspiremedical.com/pr/pr_092907.html

Just don't try anything at home with your buddies. This guy did but he still has to use cpap: