PHYSICIAN CONSULTATION AND MANAGEMENT
The first step in understanding how we can help you sleep better is scheduling time to talk in depth about your health, history, and sleep habits. This helps us understand what issues might be impacting your sleep and determine strategies to address them. This consultation can be done in person or via telehealth, whichever is more convenient for you. Depending on the results of our discussion, we may or may not recommend sleep testing. We might ask you to maintain a sleep diary to track your progress. We recommend a follow-up visit to discuss which interventions were successful at improving your sleep and decide next steps in your treatment plan.
IN-HOME SLEEP TESTING
In-home sleep testing is an excellent option for trying to understand if your sleep might be disrupted by your breathing pattern at night. Many people are told that they snore, but they are not sure if it is caused by allergies, a deviated septum, or possible sleep apnea. Current testing options are easy to apply in the comfort of your own home and have a high degree of accuracy. Some of these tests can give us valuable information on your sleep architecture such as when you go into REM sleep and when you wake up. Other tests only give information on your breathing but can be used for several nights in a row to look at how different types of treatments improve your breathing. Dr. Mooney personally reads and reports on these sleep test results.
IN-LAB SLEEP TESTING REFERRAL AND INTERPRETATION
Sometimes we need to ask a patient to sleep in a laboratory to understand what is going on with their sleep. Common examples would be patients with a possible sleep walking disorder or severe sleepiness despite adequate sleep. We arrange referral to a conveniently located American Academy of Sleep Medicine-accredited sleep laboratory. Dr. Mooney will personally review the raw data in detail.
SECOND OPINION ON SLEEP TEST RESULTS
Dr. Mooney can review the raw data of sleep testing you have previously completed.
CPAP MANAGEMENT
While CPAP may be one of the most common ways to treat sleep apnea, it is not always the easiest for patients. We are detail oriented when it comes to CPAP. If you are not happy with the equipment provided to you through your insurance, we can arrange for you to meet with one of our sleep technicians and Dr. Mooney to assess your mask fit and CPAP settings. Many CPAP machines have the ability to track a large volume of detailed data. Most doctors just look at the information to document that you are using your CPAP enough for insurance requirements. We look closely at all the data available in the download to make sure you are getting the best benefit from your CPAP machine. We can provide this service for one month of data or annually with a monthly fee.
ORAL APPLIANCE MANAGEMENT
There are several treatment options besides CPAP. In collaboration with a dental specialist, we can explore one of the most popular, which is a custom oral appliance that you wear at night like a grinding guard or Invisalign®. The goal is for the device to hold your lower jaw forward just enough to stabilize your airway and breathing, but not so far that you develop jaw discomfort or bite issues. These oral devices are small but mighty. If you decide to undergo this treatment approach, we will work closely with your dentist to identify the optimal setting on the device. Even people who love their CPAP can benefit from an oral appliance and often prefer them for short trips instead of taking their CPAP.