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Second Opinion for Sleep Apnea Treatment

When is it time to get a second opinion for sleep apnea treatment? It is a serious health condition that can cause heart problems and potentially even death if it’s not treated. This is why it’s incredibly important to find a sleep apnea treatment solution that works best for you. One of the biggest problems with sleep apnea is that most people don’t even know they have it. Traditionally, your doctor will diagnose you with sleep apnea and would then recommend a treatment you may not like. When you’re unhappy with your treatment option, you’re less likely to use it consistently which can take a toll on your health over time.

This is why it’s important to seek a second opinion for sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment. It’s possible your doctor misdiagnosed you in the first place. It’s also possible that there are much better sleep apnea treatments available to you that you don’t already know about. At TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado, we can help you get a second opinion for sleep apnea treatment and diagnosis. Please call (303) 691-0267 to schedule an appointment.

Why Get a Second Opinion for Sleep Apnea Treatment

When you need to spend hundreds of dollars on a treatment that affects your overall health, it’s important to make sure you need it in the first place. In addition, it’s important to find the best one for you without spending even more money down the line by switching treatments over time. Second opinions for sleep apnea are useful because:

  • They can confirm your sleep apnea diagnosis to eliminate doubt
  • They will give you more information to help you better understand your condition
  • You may receive a different treatment recommendation
  • You will learn the different pros and cons of other sleep apnea treatment plans

Second Opinions for Sleep Apnea Diagnosis

There is only one way to diagnose sleep apnea and that is with a sleep study. However, it’s common practice for doctors to skip a sleep study because they don’t think they’re necessary. If you have not had a sleep study but a doctor has diagnosed you with sleep apnea, we highly recommend getting a sleep study before starting treatment. We can refer you to a sleep doctor to take your sleep test.

The sleep test is either performed at a sleep study clinic or in the comfort of your own home. The sleep test will record your heart rate, brain waves, breathing rate, leg movement, eye movements, and blood oxygen levels while you sleep. Oftentimes, an interruption can occur during your sleep screening, making your results inconclusive. In this case, we may recommend you receive a second sleep screening.

Diagnosing sleep apnea can take time and accepting a diagnosis can feel hard to accept. With a second opinion, you can feel more secure in your diagnosis so you can take treatment more seriously.

Sleep Apnea Treatment Second Opinion

Oftentimes, when a doctor diagnoses you with sleep apnea, they will most likely prescribe CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) as your treatment option. You should know there are other alternatives to CPAP available that you can learn more about with a sleep apnea treatment the second opinion.

Doctors Tend to Prescribe CPAP

CPAP is the one treatment doctors tend to prescribe for sleep apnea. Unfortunately, they prescribe it routinely without considering if the treatment is right for you or your particular condition. If you don’t feel as though your doctor evaluates your condition carefully enough, you should look for a second opinion.

Doctors Don’t Know the Effectiveness of Oral Appliances

When CPAP fails, doctors think only then an oral appliance is a good choice. What they don’t know is that this isn’t true. Oral appliances are actually an effective treatment for mild to moderate sleep apnea. There is science to support this. Your insurance will even cover it because they know it’s an effective treatment too.

Doctors Don’t Examine Your Airway

One thing your doctor won’t do for you when diagnosing sleep apnea is to evaluate your airway. When you visit a sleep dentist, they will examine your airway to determine what type of sleep apnea treatment is best for you.

At our dental office, we use an iCat dental cone beam scanner to examine your airway and gain visualization of what it looks like collapsed. The imaging system shows us a 3D image of bone structures and allows us to determine if an oral appliance is an effective treatment. Some patients won’t benefit from oral appliances while others will. This analysis is crucial for finding a treatment that will work.

Doctors Don’t Consider Treatment Time and Expenses

Oftentimes doctors prescribe treatments without considering the expense to the patient. CPAP is a costly sleep apnea treatment that requires lots of time to get fitted properly. CPAP also takes several months to get used to wearing. If you’re unhappy with the treatment, it’s usually too late to return it, putting you out of hundreds of dollars and plenty of wasted hours. By finding the right treatment for you from the start, you can avoid wasting time and money.

Please Contact Dr. Berry For a Second Opinion for Sleep Apnea Treatment

If you feel you were not diagnosed with sleep apnea accurately or would like a second opinion for sleep apnea treatment, please call (303) 691-0267 to schedule a second opinion at TMJ Therapy & Sleep Center of Colorado in Denver today.

 

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