Your doctor may recommend you do a home sleep study for a variety of reasons. Perhaps you wake up tired or always have a headache in the morning, or perhaps your doctor thinks you could be experiencing sleep apnoea, which is characterised by interruptions to your breathing when you are sleeping. A home sleep study is a fuss-free and cost-effective way to determine whether you're having breathing problems when you are asleep. This type of sleep study can provide lots of useful data for your doctor to analyse, but it's not as in-depth as a clinic-based sleep study. However, clinic sleep studies are not always required or appropriate, and home sleep studies can capture more accurate data in some circumstances, as you tend to be more relaxed and to sleep better in your own home. Read on to learn how a home sleep study works and what happens after the study.
How A Home Sleep Study Works
Your doctor will give you a sleep study device, which will either have to be worn around your abdomen or on your wrist, depending on the model. The device is like a small computer that collects information about your breathing patterns as you sleep. Sensors that are connected to the device will have to be placed on your body, and your doctor will show you exactly where to place them to ensure accurate results are captured. As you sleep, the sensors feed important information back to the sleep study device, which monitors the data being generated and collates it for analysis. Your sleep study device can monitor your heart rate, body movements, blood oxygen levels, snoring patterns and peripheral arterial tone, which is a key indicator of respiratory instability during sleep. When you wake in the morning, you simply remove the device and keep it safe until your appointment with your doctor.
After The Study
After the study, your doctor will analyse the data collected by the home sleep study device you used. They will use this data to help them make a diagnosis or make a referral to an appropriate specialist, depending on the results of your study. Your doctor will discuss the next steps with you, which may involve starting treatment to regulate your breathing during sleep and promote healthy sleep patterns. If you undergo any type of treatment, you will likely have to repeat the home sleep study at regular intervals during treatment. This will allow your doctor to compare the information collected by the home sleep study device and determine whether the treatment is improving your breathing patterns and sleep quality.
If you'd like more information about sleep studies at home, consult with your doctor.
Share17 February 2021
Hey there. My name is Wade, and I have been a first aid volunteer for the past twenty years. Most weekends you will find me at football games, rodeos, agricultural shows or fun runs. I really love being able to help at these events and provide the necessary level of assistance. As a first responder, my medical role is very limited, but, many injured people do contact me to give thanks after they recover. This has further sparked my interest in health and medicine. I love watching medical shows and reading basic texts to gain a greater understanding of particular medical problems. I'm sure there are others like me who take an amateur interest in health and medical matters. I started this blog to share intriguing information I come across. I hope you find my topics fascinating and instructive. Thank you for dropping by.