If you suffer from sleep apnea, it’s vital that you find a good sleep apnea doctor. This condition is very dangerous and can cause long-term health problems, and in extreme cases, can even cause death. The right physician can accurately diagnosis your condition and give you personalized recommendations for combating this condition, and can also prescribe the right medications or apparatus to be worn at night. How do you find the best sleep apnea doctor and can your family physician help with your condition?
In some cases a family doctor can diagnose your sleep apnea but often it’s good to find someone that specializes in the disorder. This is because sleep apnea can be caused by a number of problems and you need an accurate diagnosis for it to be treated. For example, a family physician who is not a sleep apnea doctor may prescribe a breathing apparatus to wear at night without pointing out that a patient’s obesity is the cause of sleep apnea. If you don’t address the obesity, the breathing apparatus may not work as well as expected and only the symptoms of sleep apnea are being treated, not the cause.
How can you find a sleep apnea doctor for your condition? You might ask your family doctor for a recommendation. Don’t worry that they’ll be offended; it’s part of their job to recommend specialists. They may even recommend that you visit a sleep disorder clinic so you can be sure that you actually have apnea and not another sleep disorder. It’s often difficult for a patient to diagnose their own condition even if they have researched sleep apnea, so a sleep apnea doctor who works with a sleep disorders clinic can be a better choice.
When choosing a sleep apnea doctor you want one that offers a number of solutions for the condition rather than one who is just quick to prescribe medication or a sleep apparatus. Often addressing the causes of apnea will be better than any quick fix, so you want a sleep apnea doctor who will get information from you about your overall health, your lifestyle choices, your sleeping patterns, and things such as these. Your doctor may make recommendations you don’t want to hear such as having to lose weight, choose a different eating plan, or cut back on drinking alcohol or smoking, but these are important for treating apnea overall. He or she will also have medications and apparatus available for immediate relief of sleep apnea and shouldn’t hesitate to recommend these as well.