Stop Snoring, Start Living: Your 2026 Guide to Sleep Apnea Solutions

It’s been estimated that around 26% of adults between the ages of 30 and 70 have sleep apnea. However, sleep apnea continues to be misdiagnosed. Learning more about this condition may help you find the snoring solution you’ve been looking for.

At SLENT, with locations in Mandeville, Slidell, and Hammond, Louisiana, our otolaryngology specialists can help with diagnosing and treating sleep apnea, giving you better, more fulfilling rest at night.

Types of sleep apnea

There are two main types of sleep apnea.

Central sleep apnea (CSA)

Specific failure of the central nervous system, which controls your breathing and other automatic functions, can cause central sleep apnea. CSA can also be caused by heart failure, stroke, or sleeping at higher altitudes. CSA is fairly uncommon.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)

OSA is the more common type of sleep apnea. It’s caused by the soft tissues at the back of your throat relaxing enough that they block your airway. This causes a momentary cessation of breathing, often for longer than 10 seconds at a time.

Your body has a safeguard against this type of breathing failure, and sends a startle response to your brain. This can jolt you just enough that the muscles tighten up, unblocking your airway and allowing you to resume breathing, often with a snort or a snore. This can happen over and over without you ever waking up — leaving you very tired come morning.

Top symptoms of sleep apnea

While a bedfellow or roommate reporting loud snoring, gasping, choking, or snorting sounds in the night is the top symptom that identifies a potential case of OSA, there are other, more sneaky symptoms:

Daytime sleepiness
Brain fog
Morning headaches
Flagging work or school performance
Depression and/or anxiety
Irritability and mood swings
High blood pressure
Heart problems

If you see your symptoms listed here, even if some of them have been attributed to other causes, it could be time to get screened for OSA.

Risk factors for sleep apnea

The list of common risk factors for sleep apnea keeps expanding, and there’s a lot of overlap. Factors include:

Male genetics
Age
Obesity
A narrow airway
Enlarged tonsils
Family history of OSA
Type 2 diabetes
A misaligned bite

Adding your symptoms and risk factors together can give you an idea of how likely it might be that you have OSA.

Sleep apnea solutions

At SLENT, we provide referrals for at-home and overnight in-facility sleep studies. These track your sleep quality and breathing throughout the night. Depending on how bad your sleep apnea is, we’ll talk with you about your different options, which could include:

Oral appliances to keep your jaw positioned for an open airway at night
A continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine
A tonsillectomy or other soft tissue surgery to open up your airway

Is sleep apnea the potential reason for your lack of restful sleep? 2026 is the time to find out and secure a solution that works. Schedule a consultation with the team at SLENT by calling the location closest to you, or visit our contact page for more options.