06196 671444

Sprechzeiten

Mo-Fr: 08:30-12:30 Uhr
Mo u. Do: 15:00-17:30 Uhr
Di: 15:00-19:00 Uhr

Sleep

Lack of restful sleep has multiple effects on the health of the heart, circulation and nerves, and not least on the respiratory and digestive systems. Restless sleep can have many causes. These include primarily sleep-related respiratory disorders, as well as sleeping disorders.  

In our outpatient sleep laboratory, we perform sleep analyses with the help of small devices, which the patient applies at home overnight.

  On this basis, in our outpatient sleep laboratory, we are also able to initiate and monitor nocturnal ventilation therapy with CPAP or BPAP devices. Long-term blood pressure measurements and restless legs analyses are also performed. In cooperation with our dentist colleagues, orthodontic splints can be adapted to combat snoring and mild forms of sleep apnea.   Comprehensive advice is important to us. There are many ways to improve your health yourself. With complementary medicine, the condition can usually improve significantly.

Symptoms

Feeling tired in the daytime, having low energy and falling asleep in boaring  situations, as well as loud and irregular snoring, are symptoms which would lead us to conduct an outpatient sleep laboratory investigation. Not only children but also adults do not get enough restorative sleep often due to excessive activity, stress and exercise. This prevents the perception of underlying tiredness.

Make an appointment06196 671444

Diagnostics

Examinations in our sleep laboratory serve to determine sleep disturbances of all kinds.

  Through a medical consultation and a questionnaire, the potential problem can be narrowed down beforehand. To make a reliable diagnosis, polysomnography is helpful. In this procedure  breathing, muscles, circulation and the nervous system are examined during sleep. Problems with the blood pressure, stress-related disorders or restless legs can also be examined more easily.

Sleeplab

What does "outpatient sleep laboratory" mean? Our outpatient sleep laboratory consists of portable measurement devices that are programmed and transmit their readings to our computer in the practice. Here we can check all respiratory function and cardiovascular activity during the night. In addition, the activity of the sleeping brain and muscles can be detected. This allows us to diagnose respiratory, psychological and neurological sleep disorders.

 

Nobody has to stay with us overnight. These investigations are performed at the patient’s home. For many, sleeping in your home environment is much more comfortable than in a clinic. Further measurements of respiratory function are also made in our practice to determine respiratory diseases affecting sleep. In order to estimate the risk of heart attack and stroke, relevant laboratory test values are determined or - if already existing - included. Sleep-related breathing disorders are associated with an increased risk of infarction and stroke.

 

The application of the measuring equipment is simple and is demonstrated precisely by our employees the day before the night of examination. However, if someone is still unsure that they will be able to apply the devices alone, we have found it helps to have someone at home to help you. If in doubt, take someone with you.

 

If someone already has a therapy device for airway-positive-pressure respiration, someone regularly uses an anti-snoring splint or someone treats their sleep apnea by avoiding the supine position, regular therapy check-ups are required. The frequency of these check-ups will be set on an individual basis until the optimum results are obtained. With stable therapy, check-ups after 6-12 months are sensible, and then once a year. These should also take into account the patient’s subjective well-being, so that also the objective therapy quality is correct.

 

Positive pressure ventilation (CPAP, BPAP, Auto-CPAP, NIV) can also be assessed by us by reading the respiratory equipment over an extended period of time. Such a device even has its own cloud, in which the quality of ventilation is constantly observed with the help telemonitoring. If the patient agrees, the doctor can look into these records at any time and, if problems arise, make a problem analysis on the patient’s data on a call with the patient. Our sleep lab is licensed to look at the records on the cloud following the consent of the patient. Telemonitoring increases therapy safety and efficiency and is equipped with a very high level of data protection. The collaboration between doctor and patient is thereby considerably facilitated.

Therapy

 The treatment of sleep disorders depends on the detected disorder. It is not uncommon that stress-related sleep disorders and sleep-related breathing disorders are present simultaneously. Likewise, respiratory diseases of the bronchi and upper respiratory tract are associated with sleep apnea. In children with sleep apnea, enlarged tonsils often play a role. Here is one of the few situations where surgical intervention may be considered.  

In simpler cases, sleep-related breathing disorders can be treated with positional training and orthodontic splints. For this we recommend such auxiliaries and cooperate with professional dentists. In severe cases, positive pressure breathing therapy is required, which in most cases we can administer at home with the patient. The consequences of non-restorative sleep are complex and in our practice included as much as possible in the therapy. These adress weight gain and gastro-oesophageal reflux as well as immunodefensive weakness.  

Nocturnal leg rest (restless legs or periodic leg movements) can be a significant sleep-disturbing factor and can be treated with medication. In mild cases, acupuncture can help with this and the remedy of further sleep disorders. With laboratory chemistry, risk factors can be determined and treated in a targeted manner.

  Recommendations for lifestyle will be explained during the consultation to discuss our findings.