3 surprising causes of Chicago sleep disorders
Sleep disorders can affect your life in many negative ways. Not getting enough sleep at night can lead to physical pain, fatigue, irritability, relationship problems, problems at work and safety risks. Many people have trouble sleeping but blame it on stress. Often, they wind up thinking poor sleep is just something they have to live with. If you are one of these people, you could have a real sleep disorder and not realize it. If there is a physical cause for your poor sleep, the good news is that there can also be a solution. There are many sleep disorder causes, and some of them may surprise you.
1. Medications
You’ve probably seen many medication bottle labels that warn of drowsiness, but some medications can do the opposite. Unfortunately, many of these are prescription medications that people need for their health, like heart medications, anti-depressants, and asthma medications. If you have a sleep problem that could be related to a medication you take regularly, talk to your doctor about switching to a different medication or change the time of day that you take your medication so it doesn’t interfere with your sleep.
2. Jaw injury
An injury to your jaw can cause not only pain, but issues with your teeth and your bite that can lead to sleep apnea. Sleep apnea occurs when tissue or your tongue blocks the air passageway when you are sleeping and stops your breathing. People with sleep apnea wake up every time this happens then immediately resume sleeping. In the morning, they don’t remember waking up numerous times, but they have not actually had a full night’s sleep. Jaw injury or temporomandibular joint disorder, called TMJ or TMD, can prevent free air flow and cause sleep apnea symptoms.
3. Genetics
Genetics can play a role in your sleep in various ways. A tendency towards insomnia can actually be inherited, and genetics can also be responsible for the improper bite that causes breathing problems in sleep. If genetics are behind your sleep problem, that does not mean you can’t get treatment. Sleep disorder treatment can help no matter what caused the issues you have.
Where can you find help?
If you have problems sleeping or think you may have a sleep disorder, you should see your doctor, but you should also see your dentist. Doctors sometimes miss dental problems that can be causing sleep disorder. If your teeth or jaws are the cause, dental TMD treatment could help. Your Chicago dentist can discuss sleep disorder causes with you and examine your teeth and jaws to see if a dental treatment could help you to get better sleep.
