3 Ways to Treat Your Sleep Disorder

Humans need sleep; not just to survive, but to thrive. Yet, even if you know this, you still might struggle. Maybe you sleep enough, but you don’t feel rested. Maybe you toss and turn, struggling to fall asleep. Or maybe you wake up in the middle of the night and can’t drift back off.

If any of this sounds familiar, you might have a sleep disorder. But even though you’re not getting the sleep you need (like 1 in 3 American adults), it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Here at our New York Institute of Otolaryngology and Aesthetic Surgery offices in Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, Raj Bhayani, MD, diagnoses and treats sleep disorders. His customized treatments target the specific issue affecting your sleep, making them typically fall into one of three categories. 

1. Good sleep hygiene

If you’re having trouble getting sufficient sleep, this is the best place to start. In the same way general hygiene means deploying habits to keep you healthy, sleep hygiene means adopting lifestyle changes to support high-quality rest. 

This starts by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Your body has an innate circadian rhythm. Through this 24-hour cycle, your brain operates in ways to help you fall asleep as you approach bedtime and wake up when it’s time to start your day. But for this circadian rhythm to work, you need to stay on the same schedule. 

Beyond that, good sleep hygiene means:

• Keeping your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet
• Avoiding stimulation before bedtime, like caffeine and screens
• Finding ways to manage your stress
• Exercising regularly
• Eating a healthy diet

All of these things help your body’s sleep/wake functions work the way they should. These lifestyle changes can be enough to combat some sleep disorders.  

2. Devices to keep your airways open

If you’re still not getting the rest you need, something could be interfering with your sleep. Specifically, you might have sleep apnea. 

With this condition, something interrupts your breathing as you sleep. Your body wakes you up so you can get the airflow you need. This can happen so quickly you might not even realize it before you drift back off, but it still takes a toll on your sleep quality.

You might be dealing with sleep apnea if you wake up:

• Tired despite getting enough hours of sleep
• With a headache
• With a dry mouth

Other symptoms include:

• Your bed partner tells you that you snore loudly
• You have trouble concentrating throughout the day

Dr. Bhayani can evaluate you for sleep apnea. If you do have this condition, he may use a device — like a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine or an oral appliance (similar to a mouthguard) — to keep your airways open as you sleep. 

3. Sleep medication

If sleep hygiene doesn’t help and you’re not dealing with sleep apnea, a different condition could be to blame, such as insomnia or restless legs syndrome. Dr. Bhayani can evaluate your symptoms to help you figure out what’s going on. Then, he can point you toward medication that may be able to help. 

Don’t let trouble overnight interrupt your days. For help getting the rest you need to thrive, contact us to schedule an appointment with Dr. Bhayani in either Brooklyn, Queens, or the Bronx today.