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Typically, headaches caused by sleep apnea are called morning headaches. They start when you wake up and tend to improve over a few hours. They can look like tension headaches or migraines. In one study, 20% of people diagnosed with sleep apnea had morning headaches. According to the American Migraine Foundation, people living with this condition are between two to eight times more likely to experience sleep disorders.
A study published in the US National Library of Medicine’s National Institutes of Health showed that insufficient sleep, disturbed sleep, oversleeping, and inconsistent sleep cycles are often reported as triggers for a migraine attack.
Of 12,810 eligible respondents with migraines and data on sleep, 91.3% with episodic migraines (who have <15 headache days/month) and 8.7% with chronic migraines (who have ≥15 headache days/month), 37.0% were at “high risk” for sleep apnea. Among respondents to the Medical Outcomes Study Sleep Measures, people with chronic migraines were more likely to report poor sleep quality than those with episodic migraines.
Morning headache sufferers can then prevent morning migraines by correcting their sleep apnea to achieve quality sleep. Though there are a number of lifestyle changes that can help, like losing weight, avoiding alcohol, or quitting smoking, there is one proven methodology to correct the physiology associated with sleep apnea.
Airway and Sleep Group use Rapid maxillary expansion, or the DOME, Distraction Osteogenesis Maxillary Expansion technique, which changes the shape of your mouth by widening a high-arch palate with associated nasal obstruction to improve the symptoms of Obstructive Sleep Apnea. DOME and Rapid maxillary expansion have been proven to improve the quality of sleep for obstructive sleep apnea sufferers by enhancing the airway.
Make the choice to wake up feeling rested and refreshed without a morning headache and learn more by visiting the links below.
