Find Sleep Doctors near you

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FAQs:

What is a Sleep Doctor?

A sleep medicine doctor, also known as a sleep specialist, sleep physician, and somnologist, is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. These doctors have extensive knowledge and training in the field of sleep medicine and are dedicated to helping patients improve their sleep quality and overall health and well-being.

Sleep doctors usually have backgrounds in fields such as neurology, internal medicine, pulmonology, psychiatry, or otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat). They receive additional specialized training, termed a fellowship in sleep medicine. Sleep medicine doctors play a crucial role in identifying and diagnosing various sleep disorders. They work closely with patients to understand their sleep patterns, identify the underlying causes of their sleep problems, and develop personalized treatment plans to improve their sleep.

What Does a Sleep Doctor Do?

Sleep doctors diagnose various medical sleep conditions through several different methods. This can include taking a detailed medical history, conducting physical examinations, and ordering sleep studies (such as polysomnography) to evaluate brain waves, breathing patterns, muscle activity, and other physiological aspects during sleep. Sleep physicians use different approaches to provide care for sleep disorders. Treatment options depend on the specific sleep disorder and may include:

1. Lifestyle modifications include improving sleep hygiene habits, addressing underlying medical conditions, and managing stress.

2. Behavioral therapy: An example is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), often used to manage insomnia and other sleep disturbances.

3. Medications: Depending on the disorder, medications may be prescribed to regulate sleep-wake cycles, control breathing, or address co-existing medical conditions

4. Medical devices: An example of a medical device is a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine commonly used to treat sleep apnea.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a condition that causes you to stop breathing while you’re sleeping. The word “apnea” comes from the Greek word for “breathless.” Sleep apnea happens because you stop breathing in your sleep. This happens either because of blockage of your airway (obstructive sleep apnea) or because your brain doesn’t correctly control your breathing (central apnea).

The resulting lack of oxygen activates a survival reflex that wakes you up just enough to resume breathing. While that reflex keeps you alive, it also interrupts your sleep cycle. That prevents restful sleep and can have other effects, including putting stress on your heart that can have potentially deadly consequences.

How Much Sleep Should I Get?

Everyone needs sleep. It’s an essential part of what makes our bodies function. The amount of sleep you need might be more or less than others, but experts recommend adults get seven to nine hours of sleep per night. Optimal sleep time varies by age; for example, children and teenagers may need more sleep than adults.

How Many Hours of Sleep Do You Need for a Sleep Study?

You may feel uncomfortable because of the sensors and other measuring devices attached to your body. However, nearly everyone eventually falls asleep during a sleep study. Even if you get less sleep than you normally do at home, a sleep study only requires two hours of sleep to be considered a valid test. In some cases, people who are nervous about a sleep study or who have severe insomnia may be prescribed sleep medications to help them fall asleep.

What Happens If I Don’t Get Enough Sleep?

If you don’t get the proper amount or quality of sleep that your body needs, it can affect you beyond feeling tired during the daytime. A lack of adequate sleep can lead to:

1. Difficulty learning, remembering, or making decisions.

2. Personality changes like irritability.

3. Lower reaction times (making accidents more likely to happen).

Sleep loss can also contribute to the development of health conditions like:

1. Depression.

2. Obesity.

3. Type 2 diabetes.

4. Heart disease.

5. Dementia.

While rare, some sleep disorders can be life-threatening.

How Long Do Sleep Disorders Last?

There isn’t a specific time limit as to when a sleep disorder will stop affecting you. You may be able to find a treatment that makes you feel better within weeks to months. Others may need to manage the condition throughout their lifetime. Talk to your healthcare provider about your specific outlook.

How are Sleep Disorders Diagnosed?

To make a diagnosis, your healthcare provider will use your medical history, your sleep history, and a physical exam. You may also have a sleep study (polysomnogram). The most common types of sleep studies monitor and record data about your body during a full night of sleep. The data includes:

1. Brain wave changes

2. Eye movements

3. Breathing rate

4. Blood pressure

5. Heart rate and electrical activity of the heart and other muscles

Other types of sleep studies may check how quickly you fall asleep during daytime naps or whether you can stay awake and alert during the day.

Is Sleep Disorder a Mental Illness?

Sleep difficulties are linked to both physical and emotional problems. Sleep problems can both contribute to or exacerbate mental health conditions and can be a symptom of other mental health conditions. About one-third of adults report insomnia symptoms and 4-22% meet the criteria for insomnia disorder.

At What Age is Sleep Most Important?

By age 2, children are finally spending more time awake than sleeping. Sleep is vital to children and babies because of the rapid brain development and growth that they’re experiencing during this age. Children spend a lot of time in Non-Rapid Eye Movement (NREM)—the deep sleep in which the body restores itself. The body releases important hormones for growth and development during this deep state. During NREM, blood supply to the muscles increases and tissue growth and repair occur. 

Is Oversleeping Bad?

Yes, it is. Sleeping too much — 10 hours or more — can harm your health. Further, it may be a sign of underlying health problems, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Findings include:

1. Too much sleep — as well as not enough sleep — raises the risk of chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, anxiety, and obesity in adults aged 45 and older.

2. Sleeping too much puts you at greater risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes than sleeping too little.

3. Sleeping more than seven or eight hours a night, and feeling tired the next day, could indicate you have a health problem.

What is Sleep?

Sleep is a complex biological process. While you are sleeping, you are unconscious, but your brain and body functions are still active. They are doing several important jobs that help you stay healthy and function at your best. So when you don't get enough quality sleep, it does more than just make you feel tired. It can affect your physical and mental health, thinking, and daily functioning.

What are Sleep Disorders?

Sleep disorders (or sleep-wake disorders) involve problems with the quality, timing, and amount of sleep, which result in daytime distress and impairment in functioning. Sleep-wake disorders often occur along with medical conditions or other mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or cognitive disorders. There are several different types of sleep-wake disorders, of which insomnia is the most common. Other sleep-wake disorders include obstructive sleep apnea, parasomnias, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome. Sleep difficulties are linked to both physical and emotional problems. Sleep problems can both contribute to or exacerbate mental health conditions and can be a symptom of other mental health conditions.

Types of Sleep Disorders

There are over 80 different types of sleep disorders. The most common include:

1. Chronic insomnia: You have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep most nights for at least three months and feel tired or irritable as a result.

2. Obstructive sleep apnea: You snore and have moments during sleep when you stop breathing that disrupt your sleep.

3. Restless legs syndrome: You have the urge to move your legs when you rest.

4. Narcolepsy: You can’t regulate when you fall asleep or how long you stay awake.

5. Shift work sleep disorder: You have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep and feel sleepiness at unwanted times due to your work schedule.

6. Delayed sleep phase syndrome: You fall asleep at least two hours after your desired bedtime and have difficulty waking up in time for school or work.

7. REM sleep behavior disorder: You act out your dreams while in the rapid eye movement (REM) stage of sleep.

Kind of Doctors that Treat Sleep Disorders

Many different types of doctors treat sleep problems. Board-certified sleep medicine specialists may have a variety of primary specialties: 

1. Primary care/internal medicine

Some general practitioners may handle sleep-related issues for patients.

2. Pulmonology 

Pulmonologists specialize in the respiratory (breathing) system and often treat obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) because it’s a condition in which patients stop breathing while sleeping due to a blockage in the airway.

3. Neurology

Neurologists specialize in disorders of the brain and nervous system and often treat sleep disorders such as central sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and insomnia, which may be related to neurological issues.

4. Otolaryngology (commonly referred to as ear, nose, and throat doctors, or ENTs)

Obstructive sleep apnea and snoring are often caused by a blockage in the throat and may be treated by ENTs.

5. Psychiatry

Sleep disorders often cause excessive daytime sleepiness which can affect mood, anxiety, depression, and sex drive.

6. Dentistry

Dentists can often help with obstructive sleep apnea and teeth grinding while sleeping (bruxism).

Symptoms of Sleep Disorders

The symptoms of sleep disorders depend on the specific disorder. Some signs that you may have a sleep disorder include that:

1. You regularly take more than 30 minutes each night to fall asleep.

2. You regularly wake up several times each night and then have trouble falling back to sleep, or you wake up too early in the morning.

3. You often feel sleepy during the day, take frequent naps, or fall asleep at the wrong times during the day.

4. Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds, or stop breathing for short periods.

5. You have creeping, tingling, or crawling feelings in your legs or arms that are relieved by moving or massaging them, especially in the evening and when trying to fall asleep.

6. Your bed partner notices that your legs or arms jerk often during sleep.

7. You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while falling asleep or dozing.

8. You have episodes of sudden muscle weakness when you are angry or fearful, or when you laugh.

9. You feel as though you cannot move when you first wake up.

Causes of Sleep Disorders

A disruption to your body’s cycle of sleep and daytime wakefulness causes sleep disorders. Specific things may cause this to happen and it varies based on the type of sleep disorder you have. They may include:

1. A symptom of a medical condition like heart disease, asthma, pain, or a nerve condition.

2. A symptom of a mental health condition like depression or anxiety disorder.

3. Genetic factors (a mutation).

4. A side effect of a medication.

5. Working the night shift.

6. Substance use before bedtime like caffeine or alcohol.

7. Low levels of certain chemicals or minerals in the brain.

8. An unknown cause.

Treatment for Sleep Disorders

Treatment for sleep disorders depends on the specific disorder and may include: 

1. Healthy lifestyle and behavior changes

- Steps to improve sleep habits and practice good sleep hygiene 

- Stress reduction techniques

- Exercise

- Not smoking 

- Reducing or avoiding caffeine and alcohol consumption

- Massaging legs or soaking in a hot bath

- Weight loss

- Avoiding alcohol and other sedatives 

- Adjusting sleep position (to stay off the back) 

- Relaxation exercises 

2. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I)

3. Sleep restriction or sleep compression  

4. Sleep Education 

5. Education to avoid triggers 

6. Stimulus control 

7. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) 

8. Dental devices 

9. Medications (the choice of medication depends on the particular disorder)

- Sleep medications, both over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription

- Stimulants

- Medications to treat cataplexy

- Histamine H3 antagonists/inverse agonists 

- Melatonin 

- Clonazepam

- Dopamine agonists

- Alpha-2-delta calcium channel ligands

- Medications used to treat restless legs syndrome

- Parkinson's disease medication

- Certain anti-seizure medication

- Narcotic pain medications

- Iron treatment

10. Stopping medications that may be causing the problem 

- Do not stop taking a prescribed medication without first talking to your doctor

11. Light therapy

12. Light restriction (dark therapy)

13. Sleep deprivation/phase advance

14. Chronotherapy

15. Creation of a safe environment

16. Surgery for some disorders due to physical problems

6 Steps to Better Sleep

Many factors can interfere with a good night's sleep — from work stress and family responsibilities to illnesses. It's no wonder that quality sleep is sometimes elusive. You might not be able to control the factors that interfere with your sleep. However, you can adopt habits that encourage better sleep. Start with these simple tips.

1. Stick to a sleep schedule

Set aside no more than eight hours for sleep. The recommended amount of sleep for a healthy adult is at least seven hours. Most people don't need more than eight hours in bed to be well rested. Go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including weekends. Being consistent reinforces your body's sleep-wake cycle. If you don't fall asleep within about 20 minutes of going to bed, leave your bedroom and do something relaxing. Read or listen to soothing music. Go back to bed when you're tired. Repeat as needed, but continue to maintain your sleep schedule and wake-up time.

2. Pay attention to what you eat and drink

Don't go to bed hungry or stuffed. In particular, avoid heavy or large meals within a couple of hours of bedtime. Discomfort might keep you up. Nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol deserve caution, too. The stimulating effects of nicotine and caffeine take hours to wear off and can interfere with sleep. And even though alcohol might make you feel sleepy at first, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.

3. Create a restful environment

Keep your room cool, dark, and quiet. Exposure to light in the evenings might make it more challenging to fall asleep. Avoid prolonged use of light-emitting screens just before bedtime. Consider using room-darkening shades, earplugs, a fan, or other devices to create an environment that suits your needs. Doing calming activities before bedtime, such as taking a bath or using relaxation techniques, might promote better sleep.

4. Limit daytime naps

Long daytime naps can interfere with nighttime sleep. Limit naps to no more than one hour and avoid napping late in the day. However, if you work nights, you might need to nap late in the day before work to help make up your sleep debt.

5. Include physical activity in your daily routine

Regular physical activity can promote better sleep. However, avoid being active too close to bedtime. Spending time outside every day might be helpful, too.

6. Manage worries

Try to resolve your worries or concerns before bedtime. Jot down what's on your mind and then set it aside for tomorrow. Stress management might help. Start with the basics, such as getting organized, setting priorities, and delegating tasks. Meditation also can ease anxiety.

Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider

Talk to a healthcare provider if you’re having trouble with sleep and wakefulness. This could be falling asleep, staying asleep or awake, getting restful sleep, or unexplained daytime sleepiness or tiredness.

Here are the questions you should ask your healthcare provider:

1. What kind of sleep disorder do I have?

2. How severe is my sleep disorder?

3. What type of treatment do you recommend?

4. Are there side effects of the treatment?

5. How can I improve my sleep hygiene?

6. Should I see a sleep specialist?

7. Do I need a referral to see a specialist?

8. Do you recommend any medications to help with my sleep disorder?

9. How often should I return to see you?

10. Are there medicines I should stop taking?

How to Find a Sleep Doctor Near Me

Struggling with a sleep disorder is more common than you might think, and identifying and treating such disorders is very important. Sleep disorders, while common, are often not diagnosed as frequently as other health issues.

If you feel like you’re struggling with a sleeping disorder or disrupted sleep, your primary care doctor may suggest a trip to a sleep specialist or sleep center. Sleep centers use testing to monitor your body while you sleep, which helps your sleep specialist get enough information about your symptoms to make a diagnosis.

Locating a sleep specialist near you might seem like a daunting task, but multiple options exist to help you successfully find and book a sleep specialist.

1. Meet With Your Current Primary Care Doctor

Talking to your doctor about your health can be challenging, but it is worthwhile if doing so helps you get adequate rest each night and improves your overall health. Before you meet with your primary care doctor, make a list of any times you’ve tried to adjust or reset your sleep routine and been unsuccessful. Examples of relevant adjustments include:

- Changing bedtime

- Changes to diet

- Exercising more or less

- Getting new mattresses or pillows

- Changes to sleep hygiene, such as blocking out light or sound

After you share your concerns, your doctor might recommend a sleep study to help diagnose your sleeping issues.

2. Contact Your Insurance Provider

If your doctor determines you should see a sleep specialist, they may have referrals they recommend. However, you may have to do your searching for a specialist. If you need to find a specialist, your first step should be to contact your insurance provider for a list of covered specialists in your area. Most insurance companies have information about in-network doctors 

3. Explore Alternative Organizations

If you’re interested in finding sleep specialists without the help of your doctor or insurance provider, you can do a quick search on prominent search engines. Make sure to use relevant keywords, such as “sleep specialist” and your location, for the most accurate results. You can also try specific search engines for locating sleep centers in your area.

Another way to find a sleep specialist is to reach out to your friends and family for their referrals. If some of your friends and family have undergone a sleep study, they might also be able to answer questions you have about the process.

You may also contact local hospitals in your area to see if they have sleep specialists or sleep centers at their facilities. You can also seek out specific sleep disorder networks, as they may have lists of specialists for the specific sleep disorder you believe you have. Be mindful that you may need a diagnosis before you can work with these specialists.

Sources:

UMHS

Sleep Foundation

Cleveland Clinic

APA

Medline Plus

Emedicine Health

Mayo Clinic

Select Health

Premier Health