Home · Blog · Sleep Study : Examinations and Studies by Sleep Specialists

You may have established the need to visit a sleep specialist through the above tests. Initially, your sleep therapist will do basic examinations of the nose, mouth and throat. After which, they may insert a fiberoptic endoscope into the nose and pharynx, to look for any obstructions that may be present in the airways.
The specialist may check your Neck Circumference. A neck circumference of over 43 cms in men and a neck circumference of over 37 cms in women is a red flag that they may look for. But not a conclusive one.

The sleep specialist will check your weight and height to look at your Body Mass Index. A Body Mass Index which is 25 or lesser is considered normal. A Body Mass Index above 30 would be of major concern and could be one of the factors that determine whether you have a sleeping or breathing disorder.

Other pre-existing conditions that your specialist will look for to diagnose sleep apnea are the presence of Hypertension and other Cardiac diseases. They may also ask questions regarding lifestyle i.e. if you drink alchohol or smoke cigarettes. These are important factors that could trigger a sleep condition like sleep apnea.

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Sleep Study – Polysomnography

Once you have determined the need for a professional diagnosis, through the self study and sleep tracking application, you can set up a meeting with your sleep specialist. Your sleep specialist may set up a date for you to undergo a sleep study – a standard criterion to diagnose Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Polysomnography is a type of sleep study which records data used to study different stages of sleep and identify various sleep issues and other sleep abnormalities.

Apart from recording different stages of sleep, Polysomnography measures movements of body, eyes, breathing, snoring, brainwaves and heart rate during sleep. These records will determine whether or not you suffer from a sleep disorder.

Sleep has different stages – drowsiness, light sleep, dream sleep. These stages are controlled by brain waves. A Sleep Study can determine which stage of sleep the subject is in and variations in brainwaves, breathing, snoring and heart beats in any of the stages.

During a Sleep Study, small metal discs or electrodes are fixed on to the head and skin of the subject, which picks up the different data mentioned above. Breathing is measured by flexible elastic belts affixed around the subject’s abdomen and chest. Heart rate and level of Oxygen in the subject’s blood is measured by a clip fixed on to the earlobes or the index finger. Their sleep may also be filmed with permission of the subject, in case it needs to be reviewed further. The whole process is painless and non-invasive.

After the sleep study, the recorded data from the sleep study is interpreted by your sleep specialist and their team. This will help them understand the different sleep patterns and anomalies. This is a very complex process, performed by highly trained sleep professionals. Based on this analysis, your sleep specialist will recommend treatments through sleep therapy machines, weight reduction, lifestyle changes or postural therapy. The analysis will take a while due to how complex the study is.

But once the analysis from the sleep study by the sleep specialist is complete, the specialist will recommend different treatments. The treatment will depend on the lifestyle of the patient or how advanced the condition is in the patient.

As always, begin the lifestyle changes mentioned in the previous blogs. Once the sleep specialist recommends the right sleep machine, with the right lifestyle changes, you will definitely see results.

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