When your doctor suspects you have a sleep disorder, they will recommend you undergo a diagnostic sleep study. This is how they will learn more about what afflicts you. There are so many kinds of sleep disorders in re world, ranging from the mild ones like snoring to the more critical ones like obstructive sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome and sleepwalking.
In the sleep study, you will have to wear a sleep recorder that shall take in vital such as brain activity, heart activity, breathing patterns and any stoppages, blood oxygen levels, limb movement, seeping position, and so many other factors. Such a study use to be conducted in a specially designed sleep lab, with a sleep scientist present to observe you through the night. Nowadays, there are portable diagnostic recorders people can use at home. You will get to sleep at home as the devices take the necessary vitals. This has proven to be the more affordable, more approachable, and more accurate manner of knowing more about sleep disorders.
They shall collect the recorded data and study it. They will then tell you the nature and severity of any sleep disorders you may have. This also gives the right treatment for the condition. It is normally a heavy moment for you to learn of such issues about yourself. Finding out about your body’s behavior while you are asleep can take its toll on you. You can imagine what a case of obstructive sleep apnea is like. This is where the soft tissue of the upper airway collapses and blocks the airway and making you unable to breathe. This prevents you from breathing for about ten seconds or even longer. You will then be subjected to those blockages for about thirty times in every hour you are asleep. The diminished oxygen levels will cause the sympathetic nervous system to wake you with micro arousal. This shall get you breathing, but not leave you fully awake. This is why when you wake up in the mooring you are still tired even though you went to sleep for a reasonably long time. What happened instead was they had a series of short naps, not a proper restful night’s sleep. This is not something easy or light to learn about yourself. Most patients will ask for immediate treatment.
It is important that anytime you suspect your sleep is not normal, you should get tested. You will find a sleep study to be non-invasive and generally comfortable There will only be the recording equipment attached to your body, which is not so bad. The data gathered from the monitoring shall go a long way in establishing the cause of your sleep troubles. This is also how you will get the right treatment after the right diagnosis.