Sleep is an important part of our ability to function well during the day. Without adequate sleep at night, we feel sleepy and lethargic during the day, and as a result performing everyday tasks at home and at work may become difficulty. There is also now evidence that lack of quality sleep can affect our mental and physical health in a negative manner. Your doctor has determined that you have symptoms which may suggest a sleep disorder, and in order to evaluate these symptoms, a sleep study has been ordered to evaluate these symptoms during the time you are asleep. The goal is to determine the causes of your symptoms, improve your sleep quality, and improve your quality of life.

Your first visit is an office visit.  During this one hour appointment, the sleep specialist will review the history of your sleep problem with you and your spouse/significant other.  If a nighttime sleep study is determined to be of potential help in determining the cause of your sleep problem, your sleep physician will explain the procedures and what you can expect.  Before you leave, we can schedule this nighttime appointment as well as follow-up appointments to discuss the results.

If you have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea (stopping breathing during sleep), it is likely that your doctor has ordered continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) as a treatment for this problem.  During CPAP treatment, a comfortable, flexible mask is worn over the nose and pressurized air is delivered from a bedside machine through a hose and into the mask.  This pressurized air stimulates the throat to stay open so that you can breathe.  A second study is ordered so that the pressure of air necessary to eliminate your episodes of stopping breathing can be adjusted to eliminate these events.  In some cases, these two studies can be combined into one night called a “split night” study.