Is it a Good Idea to Use a Pillow For Sleep Apnea?

A pillow for sleep apnea may help in mild OSA that has a positional component and also can help with the snoring. In fact, initially the pillow for sleep apnea was designed to help the people with snoring.

According to a study, "Body position during sleep influences the frequency of apneas and hypopneas in 50 to 60% of individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)" (Prevalence of Positional Sleeping Apnea in Patients Undergoing Polysomnography).

So, position is quite important during the sleep. In fact people who suffer from sleeping apnea (SA) and are kept off the back sleeping can look quite normal, as many people suffering from SA do not know they are having this condition.

This is where a pillow for sleep apnea can be helpful. Of course, this doesn't mean that it will work with everyone, but it surely worked for some people, who now are happy because they have regained their sleep and, as a consequence, they have enough energy to feel great and get involve in different activities, like they used before.

A good idea would be to monitor the effectiveness of the pillow for sleep apnea. See for yourself if it really works for you.

This can be done in two ways:

Using a fully data-capable PAP device at home
Having an overnight sleep study (polysomnography)

Doing so, you will also have "scientific" proof that the pillow for sleep apnea works, besides the fact that you feel better.

According to another sleep study, 49.5% of Mild, 19.4% of Moderate and 6.5% of Severe random SA sufferers normalized sleep by staying off their backs.

There are several manufacturers for sleeping apnea pillows. Soma is a very well known manufacturer, which produces such a pillow for sleep apnea that is FDA approved. According to doctors, the pillow also brings the jaw forward, this way the tongue doesn't fall backwards creating an obstruction to the airways.

If you are rolling your tongue backwards (OSA) while you are sleeping and you start snoring because you are sleeping in the supine position, a pillow that is high enough at the center and inclined on the sides will serve in two ways:

First, to avoid the supine position, and
Second, by moving your jaw and tongue forward instead of backward

Of course, this doesn't mean that you will cure the problem, but it will help, even if you use a CPAP. With this pillow, you can put your arm on the side and so you have more comfort and space between your arm and body, instead of just squeezing your arms under the weight of your body while sleeping on your side, and therefore it avoids the arms to get numbed because of the lack or cut of blood circulation.

To learn more about the pillow for sleep apnea and how it can benefit you, visit the site SleepApneaNatural.com. Clicking here you will find what are the shapes and forms of sleep apnea pillows, a description of this kind of pillows and other useful information.