Chapel Hill Clinic Offers New Innovative Approach to Sleep Apnea Using Alternative Methods Chiropractic Applied Kinesiology and Physical Therapy
The Chapel Hill Chiropractic Centre has a new approach to helping individuals with Sleep Apnea, particularly a type of Sleep Apnea called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), the most common form of Sleep Apnea that affects millions of people.
Chiropractic combined with innovative techniques utilized from Applied Kinesiology, massage, physical therapy, dentistry, and cranial manipulation create a powerful arsenal of treatment options that may make sleep apnea sufferers breathe a sigh of relief. This comprehensive approach evaluates the entire body, utlizing many methods which would be otherwise missed by a professional who specializes in one particular region of the body. Due to the widely varying causes of sleep apnea, specialists can often be too focused to be able to evaluate the "big picture". After all, the body is connected in every aspect.
With Sleep Apnea, individuals are forced to use a CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) to be able to breathe regularly and effectively throughout their sleep cycle because the airway is not remaining patent, or open. The typical method of diagnosis of this condition is performed at a sleep study clinic using Polysomnography. This testing can be useful but also disruptive because the person being studied has to sleep in an unfamiliar environment with different bedding.
An effective and simpler method of testing is done with oximetry often combined with pulse measurement, sometimes called pulsoximetry. This is a simple device that clips over the end of the finger during sleep, measuring the blood oxygen percentage while a person sleeps. Typical blood oxygen saturation levels should reach about 98-99%, yet can be often found as low as the 80's with sleep apnea. The co-morbidities of low oxygen saturation in the blood has many implications in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and blood/tissue related diseases.
Sleep Apnea patients often present to a chiropractors office with little awareness of their physical, neurological, and chemical imbalances. The reason for the visit is often neck, mid-back or low-back pain. Common physical and palpatory findings include an anterior head carriage, muscular strain to the SCM muscle, or Sternocleidomastoid, fascial shortening of the posterior neck extensors, a visible Buffalo Hump, External auditory meatus shifted anterior to the acromion process, loss of cervical spine lordosis or curve, TMJ palpatory pain, Temporalis muscle hypertonicity, Tooth wear from grinding teeth, and obesity.
From a chiropractic perspective, these typical Sleep Apnea patients generally sleep with several pillows stacked behind their heads which force the head and neck into flexion and reverse the natural cervical spine curve or lordosis. Other common causes of this type of subluxation, or misalignment is chronic poor posture and whiplash injuries to the head and neck. Often a 5MPH car collision is enough to create neck imbalances which can later lead to an airway dysfunction.
A reversed cervical lordosis or loss of the natural "C" curve in the neck creates a mechanical change in the opening of the airway and breathing passage, often resulting in breathing problems due to a narrowed airway in the glossopharyngeal region of the neck. Tightness in the TMJ or Tempormandibular Joint can further compound the issue by causing pharyngeal spasming. This is the primary reason that many well-informed dentists use a device called a Mandibular Advancement Splint to improve sleep apnea. The fact is, when the Temporomandibular Joint is opened inferiorly and translated anteriorly, the airway opens up. When the TMJ moves posterior and superior it closes the airway and makes it less patent, restricting the normal motions of the kinematic chain in the neck.
Chiropractic does the same thing, yet does not use the aid of a Splint to open the airway. Chiropractic treatment of the head and neck retrain the neck muscles and improve the neck and cervical spine posture. The significant difference between this and a mandibular advancement splint is that a proper chiropractic manipulation aids in correcting the joint imbalance by treating the temporomandibular joint and supporting muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
Both the chiropractic manipulation and mandibular advancement splint are an effective method of improving sleep apnea. The combination of these two methods is likely to be a match made in heaven for sleep apnea sufferers.
For more information, or to find out if Chiropractic and Applied Kinesiology is right for you, the Chapel Hill Chiropractic Centre schedules complimentary consultations as a courtesy to our patients.
Chiropractic combined with innovative techniques utilized from Applied Kinesiology, massage, physical therapy, dentistry, and cranial manipulation create a powerful arsenal of treatment options that may make sleep apnea sufferers breathe a sigh of relief. This comprehensive approach evaluates the entire body, utlizing many methods which would be otherwise missed by a professional who specializes in one particular region of the body. Due to the widely varying causes of sleep apnea, specialists can often be too focused to be able to evaluate the "big picture". After all, the body is connected in every aspect.
With Sleep Apnea, individuals are forced to use a CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) to be able to breathe regularly and effectively throughout their sleep cycle because the airway is not remaining patent, or open. The typical method of diagnosis of this condition is performed at a sleep study clinic using Polysomnography. This testing can be useful but also disruptive because the person being studied has to sleep in an unfamiliar environment with different bedding.
An effective and simpler method of testing is done with oximetry often combined with pulse measurement, sometimes called pulsoximetry. This is a simple device that clips over the end of the finger during sleep, measuring the blood oxygen percentage while a person sleeps. Typical blood oxygen saturation levels should reach about 98-99%, yet can be often found as low as the 80's with sleep apnea. The co-morbidities of low oxygen saturation in the blood has many implications in diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and blood/tissue related diseases.
Sleep Apnea patients often present to a chiropractors office with little awareness of their physical, neurological, and chemical imbalances. The reason for the visit is often neck, mid-back or low-back pain. Common physical and palpatory findings include an anterior head carriage, muscular strain to the SCM muscle, or Sternocleidomastoid, fascial shortening of the posterior neck extensors, a visible Buffalo Hump, External auditory meatus shifted anterior to the acromion process, loss of cervical spine lordosis or curve, TMJ palpatory pain, Temporalis muscle hypertonicity, Tooth wear from grinding teeth, and obesity.
From a chiropractic perspective, these typical Sleep Apnea patients generally sleep with several pillows stacked behind their heads which force the head and neck into flexion and reverse the natural cervical spine curve or lordosis. Other common causes of this type of subluxation, or misalignment is chronic poor posture and whiplash injuries to the head and neck. Often a 5MPH car collision is enough to create neck imbalances which can later lead to an airway dysfunction.
A reversed cervical lordosis or loss of the natural "C" curve in the neck creates a mechanical change in the opening of the airway and breathing passage, often resulting in breathing problems due to a narrowed airway in the glossopharyngeal region of the neck. Tightness in the TMJ or Tempormandibular Joint can further compound the issue by causing pharyngeal spasming. This is the primary reason that many well-informed dentists use a device called a Mandibular Advancement Splint to improve sleep apnea. The fact is, when the Temporomandibular Joint is opened inferiorly and translated anteriorly, the airway opens up. When the TMJ moves posterior and superior it closes the airway and makes it less patent, restricting the normal motions of the kinematic chain in the neck.
Chiropractic does the same thing, yet does not use the aid of a Splint to open the airway. Chiropractic treatment of the head and neck retrain the neck muscles and improve the neck and cervical spine posture. The significant difference between this and a mandibular advancement splint is that a proper chiropractic manipulation aids in correcting the joint imbalance by treating the temporomandibular joint and supporting muscles, ligaments, and tendons.
Both the chiropractic manipulation and mandibular advancement splint are an effective method of improving sleep apnea. The combination of these two methods is likely to be a match made in heaven for sleep apnea sufferers.
For more information, or to find out if Chiropractic and Applied Kinesiology is right for you, the Chapel Hill Chiropractic Centre schedules complimentary consultations as a courtesy to our patients.
Labels: Adrenal Gland Fatigue, breathing difficulty, buffalo hump, closed airway, forward head carriage, Reversed Cervical Curve, Reversed Cervical Lordosis, Sleep Apnea, TMJ
posted by Dr. Ryan E. Fox, D.C. at
8:15 PM
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