If you quit smoking it will significantly improve your overall health—especially your lungs. Did you also know that by quitting smoking you might also significantly improve your sleep?  You can! Let’s take a closer look at smoking and how it can negatively affect your sleep.

If you compare a smoker to a non-smoker, it has been shown that smokers are three times more likely to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea (Wow!). This is because smoking causes an increase of inflammation and fluid retention in the upper airway, which can further aggravate sleep apnea symptoms.

Both smoking and sleep apnea are deadly conditions that can severely shorten your life span when combined. For example, smoking and sleep apnea can both cause cardiovascular and respiratory health problems. This means treatment is vital to your health.

Smoking makes the swelling in your upper airway worse, which can further aggravate symptoms such as snoring and pauses in breathing (sleep apnea). In order to have successful treatment, you must quit smoking. By quitting your habit of smoking, you are significantly improving your treatment options and the results from treatment. While quitting smoking does not guarantee that your sleep apnea will disappear, it does ensure that treatment will be much more effective.

While it is up to you to quit smoking, we can successfully treat your sleep apnea with oral appliance therapy. Contact us today to learn more about your sleep apnea treatment options and tips for quitting your smoking habit.