If you end up waking from sleep finding that you haven’t been able to breathe for a short period of time, you are most likely affected by sleep apnea. Sleep apnea occurs when you can’t take in air while sleeping because your throat stays open or your throat temporarily collapses making you become breathless.

Sleeping on Your Back

Most often, the sleep apnea cause can be attributed to sleeping on your back though in some instances too it may occur in whichever position you may be sleeping. However, the primary sleep apnea cause is when muscles of your tongue or throat relax beyond their normal range and while sleeping on your back, this over relaxation of the muscles makes your mouth open wide in an agape position which results in the tongue relaxing and then slipping up and towards the back of your mouth resulting finally in you becoming unable to breathe.

Therefore sleeping on your back is the main cause of sleep apnea and it may be as simple to remedy the problem by changing the position you sleep in to get that great nights sleep. If you still have your tonsils and adenoids and they become enlarged it may also contribute to sleep apnea. This can easily be helped by your doctor and may involve surgery.

If you are overweight and have too much body fat you may also be at risk for sleep apnea. Fat deposits can accumulate at the back of the throat and cause it to collapse or a blockage while you are sleeping.

For mild sleep apnea you can use a mouthpiece that will control your tongue and keep you breathing consistently for a better nights sleep.

Even the size of your skull or neck can be a cause of sleep apnea. The shape may force muscles to close over the throat when you lie down and ruin what would otherwise be a good sleep.

The best way to treat this and other sleep apnea causes is by using the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure treatment which is most suitable should you suffer from an extreme case of sleep apnea.