CPAP, is it Just for Sleep Apnea?
Continuous positive airway pressure, generally regarded as CPAP is a machine that is prescribed by your doctor if you are diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. The question that is necessary to ask here is whether sleep apnea is the only condition in which you should be allowed to use CPAP, that too with doctor’s prescription? Well, your query is completely valid; keeping in mind the amazing results that this machine has been successful in offering to people with sleep apnea, one can imagine using it for other sleep-related problems as well, is it dangerous or not is what we aim to answer in this article.
Sleep apnea is a disease that is related to your sleeping problem, as suggested by the name of this disease itself. To add on, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a type of this disease. The extent to which you have this disease is what decides whether you need a CPAP machine or not.
You might feel the symptoms of sleep apnea but when checked by your doctor, he/she might inform you that it is not the same disease, just some other breathing problem, what should you do then? Can you still use CPAP as it is still some kind of breathing problem? Well, to say that it is dangerous would not be fair, but do you really think that you should prefer fixing a machine to your face every night in order to treat something which can easily be treated by several other therapies and methods? Also, one should keep in mind that the CPAP machine is not the cheapest option that you will encounter while looking for solutions to your breath problem or simply to get rid of snoring.
This in no way means that it can be harmful to use CPAP even if not diagnosed with sleep apnea; you can surely use it as it doesn’t have any severe side effects. However, the idea here is to first rationally think about your condition, the level of extremity of your problem and to think through it. Think of it this way, even people who suffer from sleep apnea, may not always be treating it with CPAP, regardless of the results that it guarantees. This definitely signifies how difficult it is to go to bed every night with a machine attached to your mouth. That is why, even if not dangerous, one should not be eager to use it just in order to get rid of your issue as soon as possible.
Sleeping is a basic necessity of our lives and so problems attached to it to take their own time to get resolved. The same is the case with sleep apnea, CPAP is just a way to control the situation, it is not like some medicine which you need to take for 5 days. At the end of the day, taking an experts advice (Your Doctor) is always important as they can tell you what is best depending upon your own personal issues.
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