Some time ago I was diagnosed with Obstructive Sleep Apnea and this was just by chance -- my wife had mentioned my loud snoring for some time.
But then I literally started kicking and jumping in bed to "jump-start" my breathing again.
Worse still, in the morning I felt exhausted and over a period of time, developed all the symptoms of OSA.
My health started to deteriorate and I knew had to do something about it - my family life was suffering because I was very quick to temper.
When we are talking about the OSA sufferer we often forget about the partner.
They may suffer with you by not getting enough of their sleep.
Remember, there are many times when you may give a loud snore, gasp for breath or move your legs uncontrollably and this may wake your partner up too.
He or she can then develop similar symptoms to the OSA sufferer and tension in the relationship or marriage may increase.
What options do you have available to treat the problem? If looking at the Internet, as you are right now, you will find pages of promises and money back guarantees if a product doesn't work for you.
Not knowing where the problem is located you will probably be unsuccessful in treating it and disappointingly claim that all the gadgets on the market are rubbish.
The cheapest may not always be the best but will work for some.
Consider this -- we are all different to each other and so is our anatomy, including the nose, pharynx and throat area.
You are therefore right in assuming that a medical device is not like some fashion garment off the rack but needs to be individually tailored to your needs.
For a long time, oral and palatal devices have had that negative stigma attached to them with the general population believing nothing will work for them but individual fitting is the key to a successful outcome.
A recent Australian study conducted in Sydney NSW shows that oral appliances are preferred by patients and may equal the results achieved by a CPAP machine.
Snorers however, do not usually get a CPAP machine.
Even though they are recognised as the more superior treatment for OSA, CPAP has a low patient adherence.
This means that up to 75% of users stop treatment with the device after paying big money.
The key to success with palatal/oral devices is to identify the problem and to locate WHERE you snore first.
Devices should not be used if the problem is medical such as nasal restrictions, temporary congestion and/or flu-like symptoms.
Mouth breathing is often the result of such symptoms and in turn causes "throat" snoring where the tongue falls back and starts to vibrate.
You will know about this when you wake up as your throat is sore and very dry.
Firstly and foremost you need to have clear nasal passages to breathe.
See a doctor or specialist if this is not the case as the nose is an important organ that has the function of moistening, filtering and warming the air that we breathe.
If however your nose is clear during the day, there is no reason why it should not stay the same when relaxing at night.
So if you are able to breathe through your nose during the day you should be able to do the same during the night.
If not, the tissues in the soft palate (behind your nose) can collapse and cause snoring or OSA.
A palatal device may be the answer.
While palatal devices are reasonably new on the market, their medical test results are surprisingly about the same as Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) or in short, surgery but without the pain and side effects.
To find out more on this topic follow the link and click here Cheers Ben Bosshard