this sound is me snoring I had never
heard it before until I recorded it but
every person that had slept next to me
has suffered through it that sound has
ruined countless relationships for me
okay maybe that wasn't the only problem
but it was a big one according to the
National Sleep Institute more than 90
million Americans suffer from snoring
and that doesn't even include everyone
sleeping next to them
I tried all your standard snoring
remedies over-the-counter no strips by
my partner every earplug I could find I
even considered tying my hand to the bed
so I wouldn't roll over and snore but I
just wound up spending more time on the
couch I had no idea how to fix this on
my own what I really needed was
professional help my name is dr. Jordan
Stern I am a ear nose and throat and
sleep specialist and the founder and
director of Bloo sleep dr. Sternin put
me through a physical exam to see if
there is anything about the shape of my
tongue or throat that could be causing
the problem but what I really needed to
know was what was happening when I slept
so he gave me a home sleep test the kit
included a little computer a heartrate
monitor and a breathing monitor I slept
in my own bed with the monitor strapped
right to me for two nights most sleep
studies happening in a lab and they
measure a variety of different sleep
disorders but the test can be really
expensive and the wait lists are usually
really long dr. Stearn only needed a few
results and mine were bad when you sleep
your throat tongue and jaw all relax
this can narrow your throats airway then
when you breathe in all the soft tissue
around your throat vibrates causing that
awful snoring sound
but this could be a medical condition
far worse than snoring it could be
obstructive sleep apnea a condition that
blocks the throat and literally stops
you from breathing while you're asleep
when this happens oxygen is cut off the
brain goes into a fight-or-flight mode
and then wakes you up so that you can
breathe again I stopped breathing almost
30 times an hour sleep apnea can lead to
high blood pressure heart disease heart
attack glaucoma diabetes cancer and
behavioral problems not to mention you
just don't sleep well
one study Illustrated that sleep apnea
can cost the u.s. up to a hundred and
sixty five billion dollars a year and
that's not just health cost to the
patient
that's traffic accidents workplace
accidents and productivity losses the
most common fix for sleep apnea is
something called a CPAP machine CPAP
stands for continuous positive airway
pressure it forces air down your throat
keeping the airway open there's a
problem though you have to wear this
every night not exactly the sexiest
thing don't get me wrong this works and
it works really well but studies have
shown that over time people just stop
using it and I get that I don't want to
sleep every night with this mask on so I
tried something different it's a custom
molded plastic that fits right on my
teeth kind of like a retainer when I
wear it it slides my lower jaw forward
and then opens up my airway to make it
my mouth was 3d scanned and then molds
were made of my teeth it has these
different levels that slide my jaw
forward bit by bit
it's not perfect and it takes you a
little time to get used to
every morning my jaw is a little sore
because it's literally been out of place
the entire night
I used this little mold of my natural
bite to help the jaw get back into its
normal place but the improvements have
been remarkable it used to be that I
wanted to take a nap every afternoon but
now I wake up feeling rested and I can
make it throughout the whole day just
going after a few weeks of using the
mouthpiece I took another home sleep
test to see what the results really were
the doctor went over the results with me
over FaceTime I didn't even need to go
to his office this chart shows all the
snoring I had before the mouthpiece all
the different colors you're saying or
when I stopped breathing throughout the
night now this chart over here shows a
night with the mouthpiece and as you can
tell it's working finally I'm sleeping
better and so as the person next to me