If lately you’ve been having trouble sleeping and it has started to negatively impact your life, it may be time to have yourself examined by a sleep medicine doctor. Sleep deprivation can contribute to moodiness, irritability, forgetfulness, lack of concentration, and even car accidents.
Many people try to address their own sleep issues by using sleep aids and making changes to their sleep routine, but it’s often an exercise in futility. A sleep medicine physician can help you resolve your sleep disorder for good.
What Can a Sleep Doctor Do for Me?
Insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and restless legs syndrome are just some of the disorders that sleep medicine doctors treat. Here’s how a sleep medicine doctor can help you:
Stop Reliance on Sleep Medicine
For people who rely on sleep aids to fall asleep, there are times when they can cause rebound insomnia or cause daytime drowsiness. Additionally, the constant use of sleep medication can lead to needing an ever-increasing dose to fall asleep.
Without a proper medical examination to diagnose the underlying cause of your sleep issues, you may never know the best and healthiest way for you to fall asleep. Under the guidance of a sleep medicine doctor, you can wean yourself off of sleep medication and employ methods that help you get that deep, restful sleep again.
When you see a sleep medicine doctor, the physician will request and analyze your complete medical history, lifestyle habits, and any medications you are taking or have been taking. Successful treatment of sleep disorders involves the full disclosure and participation of the patient. Addressing sleep disorders requires a multifaceted approach – rarely does it require just a single pill to address – and the doctor will give you a treatment plan that works into your lifestyle.
Evaluate Your Sleep Patterns via a Sleep Study
To diagnose a sleep disorder, the sleep medicine physician may prescribe that you have a “sleep lab,” or polysomnography. This is an overnight sleep study of your sleep patterns and sleep activity in a private, comfortable, and well-equipped room. This is how sleep medicine differs from other areas of medicine that just prescribe medication or surgery to fix a problem.
Sleep laboratories are designed to be cozy and bedroom-like, and extremely conducive to sleeping. It has a comfortable bed and all the things you need to fall asleep soundly. As you sleep, the computer records your brain activity, blood oxygen levels, breathing patterns, and heart rate via sensors that are attached to your skin via adhesives.
The sleep technicians will record the data for your sleep physician to analyze and determine what type of sleep disorder you have. With the wealth of information provided by the sleep study, the sleep medicine doctor can create a treatment plan that will help you sleep soundly every night.
Sleep Medicine Doctor in Midlands, South Carolina
It’s not just a matter of how many hours you sleep, but also how well you sleep. Here at the Sleep Lab of Columbia, our goal is to help you achieve deep, restorative sleep that benefits your health and keeps you feeling your best.
An evaluation by a sleep medicine doctor will make a big difference in every facet of your life. To schedule a consultation, contact us at the Sleep Lab of Columbia by calling us at (803) 732-2433 or request an appointment now via our online form. We look forward to helping you get a better night’s sleep.
