I Don't Snore — Could I Still Have Sleep Apnea?

Ideally, your nights are peaceful and restful. You get the sleep you need to wake up refreshed and ready to tackle your day. 

If you have sleep apnea, though, everything’s different. For starters, a lot of folks with sleep apnea snore through the night, making sleep difficult for any partner in their bed. But even if you sleep solo, sleep apnea means that your body continually wakes you up to breathe. These moments of alertness might be so short you don’t remember them the next day, but they still interfere with your sleep quality.

In other words, if you often wake up groggy, it could be sleep apnea. That’s true even if you don’t snore. 

To see if you’re dealing with apnea, visit Matthew W. Shawl, MD, at our New York City office in Union Square. As an expert in sleep apnea, Dr. Shawl can evaluate you for this condition. More importantly, if you’re dealing with it, he works with you to develop a plan to help you get a good night’s rest. 

Silent sleep apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) — the most common type of apnea — develops when the muscles of your throat relax as you sleep. This causes the muscles to block your airways. Your body wakes you up to restore the flow of oxygen. Snoring is a common symptom of this type of apnea because the relaxed air muscles vibrate as air tries to get past them.

That said, depending on the configuration of your throat, your sleep position, and other factors, you might not snore with OSA.

Plus, there’s another type of apnea: central sleep apnea. This problem stems from your brain not sending the proper signals to the muscles that help you breathe through the night. Because it doesn’t come with the same airway obstruction as OSA, people with central sleep apnea often don’t snore. 

Beyond that, snoring isn’t the only symptom of sleep apnea. Other warning signs of this condition include:

• Feeling tired throughout the day
• Morning headaches
• Irritability
• Waking up with a dry mouth
• Gasping for breath as you sleep
• Trouble staying asleep

If those symptoms sound familiar, it’s time to come see Dr. Shawl — even if you don’t snore. 

Getting a good night’s rest

Here at our office, Dr. Shawl works with you to figure out if you’re being affected by obstructive or central sleep apnea. That usually includes an evaluation with him, followed by a sleep study. During that study, you get monitored overnight at a sleep center so a medical expert can see how you breathe as you sleep. 

If you do get an apnea diagnosis, Dr. Shawl will work with you to address the root cause of the problem. If it’s OSA, the issue might lie with a nose or throat condition, like enlarged tonsils or a deviated septum. As an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, Dr. Shawl has expertise in treating the variety of issues that can be behind sleep apnea. 

To reclaim quality sleep, Dr. Shawl can evaluate you, help you determine if you have sleep apnea, and develop a treatment plan to help you get better sleep. To make an appointment at our Manhattan office, call us or book your visit online today.