It’s pretty likely that you’ve experienced bad sleep in your life. Even the best, most well-adjusted of us can have an off night that leads to fatigue and irritability. But, if you have days/nights like this more often than you feel rested, that could mean there is a bigger problem.
Sleep studies can be intimidating and inconvenient, which means it’s probably pretty easy for you to find a reason not to do it. “I don’t know how to get a test,” “the wait times are too long,” “it’s expensive,” “I’ve got a lot going on right now.” There are always a million reasons not to do something, but we’re here to tell you 3 reasons why you should stop putting off your sleep test and get the results and treatment you need today.
Prevent Serious Medical Conditions
A sleep study will help you learn whether or not you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA. OSA is a condition where your airways are blocked during sleep causing you to choke and wake up during the night--often without you even knowing you were awake. This condition leads to chronic daytime fatigue, irritability, and brain fog. But, more seriously, OSA can put you at increased risk for other, far more frightening conditions like:
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Heart Disease
- Weight Gain
- Hypertension, or High Blood Pressure
- Post-Surgery Complications
- Acid Reflux
Even more, if left untested and untreated, OSA can lead to heightened risk for certain cancers. While sleep testing may seem inconvenient now, it’s a lot better than needing to face potentially life-threatening illnesses later on.
Home Sleep Testing Makes It Easier Than Ever Before
Home sleep testing is a newer alternative for patients who are likely suffering from untreated OSA. Whereas more severe sleep conditions like narcolepsy or restless leg syndrome may require an uncomfortable and expensive in-lab sleep study, OSA sufferers no longer need to endure this in order to get a diagnosis as well as treatment.
When you use a home sleep test for sleep apnea, you will have a testing unit mailed to you with clear instructions for use. Then, you will wear the unit for one night of sleep in the comfort of your own home in your own bed. The unit is not clunky and will be able to track your heart rate and breathing so board-certified sleep physicians can get you answers faster.
Once you have a diagnosis and treatment plan in place, you’ll start to notice positive effects and your risks for the conditions mentioned above will be seriously mitigated.
You Could Be Getting Restorative Sleep Every Night
While it’s important to seek out testing and treatment for OSA because of the health complications that can happen down the road, it’s also important to think about the benefits to you in the present. No one likes to go through every day exhausted after thinking they got a full night of sleep. It’s frustrating and doesn’t promote a high quality of life. Regardless of your personal situation, you deserve to be getting great sleep every night because it’s what helps us go about our days with positivity and ambition.
Sleeping well gives you the energy to spend more time with your family, take time to focus on yourself, and make sure you are the best version of yourself for everyone in your life--including you. Now that home sleep testing has removed the complications of getting an OSA diagnosis, there’s no longer a reason to continue living with untreated OSA.
Whether you recently have started experiencing sleep issues or have been dealing with them your entire life, you have nothing to lose by seeking out testing for OSA. In fact, it would seem that testing only leaves you with positives: either you can pursue other courses of testing to figure out what’s causing your sleep issues or you get the answers you wanted and can start getting great, restorative sleep with available treatments. Either way, you have everything to gain by trying a home sleep test from ApneaMed.