Sleep center
Sleep center
step of care
Our sleep center is specialised in treatment of snoring complaints, nighttime breathing stops (apnea) or other sleep-related complaints. We have a full range of research and treatment options in one location to guarantee your night’s rest and that of your partner. If you have been referred by your GP, you will get an appointment to visit our care coach for an intake and directly followed by a nighttime sleep study. We aim to be able to provide the results and treatment proposal within 2 weeks after referral.
Diagnostics in the sleep center
If there is a suspicion of nocturnal breathing stops, a nighttime sleep study is arranged. During a sleep study we look at your sleeping pattern and certain functions of your body during the night. This examination is called polygraphy or polysomnography. You can sleep at home during this examination. You visit our sleep center on the day of the examination so that our employee can explain and install the measuring equipment. The day after the examination, you will return it to KNO MC. During this visit, the measuring equipment will be removed again.
Treatment
Solutions
In the sleep center of KNO MC it is possible to treat snoring or sleep apnea by means of the following treatments:
MRA (Mandibular Repositioning apparatus)
For mild and moderate apnea (5-30 breathing stops per hour), an apnea device (MRA) or anti snoring brace is a good option of treatment. The apnea brace ensures that the lower jaw does not falls backwards while sleeping. This clears the airway obstruction. An anti-snoring brace is a dentist-fitted apnea brace on the upper and lower teeth, effective for the treatment of apnea because it clears the obstruction at almost all levels where snoring could arise.
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Surgery for apnea
This often concerns solutions for patients with mild to moderate apnea and patients who suffer from snoring. In surgery for apnea, stitches are placed on the side of the throat to tighten the soft palate. If there are still tonsils present, these are also removed and the tonsils are stitched to obtain more firmness. There are two treatment options: a UPPP (uvulo-palato-pharyngoplasty) or a BRP (barbed reposition pharyngoplasty).
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SPT (Sleep Position Trainer)
The Sleep Position Trainer is for patients with mild to moderate apnea. Two-thirds of apnea patients suffer from so-called position-dependent apnea, in which twice as many breathing stops occur in the supine position compared to other positions. The treatment consists of a band around the waist with a small flat device on the sternum that you wear at night and that registers your body position. Depending on your posture, this gives a corrective vibration, so that you no longer sleep on your back.
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Apnea mask, CPAP
CPAP stands for continuous positive airway pressure. For persons with very frequent breathing stops, the best method is often an apnea mask (nasal CPAP), nasally administered Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. A nasal mask is worn that is connected with a hose to a device that presses the ambient air (not pure oxygen as is often thought) into the nose and throat with overpressure, both during inhalation and during exhalation. The apnea mask prevents the walls of the pharynx from falling together. There are much fewer respiratory arrests and the snoring has usually disappeared.
Sleeping with an apnea mask (CPAP), especially in the beginning, requires habituation and time. Despite many other methods of treating apnea, this method is still the most effective.