When used regularly, Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, also known as CPAP therapy, is a very effective treatment of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a disorder characterized by intermittent missed breaths while a person sleeps. This breathing disorder causes snoring, daytime sleepiness, and a laundry list of serious health problems like diabetes and high blood pressure.
If you’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea and are having problems either sticking with the treatment or initiating treatment in the first place, perhaps knowing that sleep apnea can seriously sabotage your sex life will motivate you into using your CPAP machine.
Sleep Apnea Causes Erectile Dysfunction and Sexual Discomfort
Erectile Dysfunction, or the inability to get and maintain an erection firm enough for sex, is an upsetting adverse effect of untreated sleep apnea in males. Studies have found a staggering portion of men with sleep apnea are suffering from ED. Since sexual activity is such an important part of human interaction, why would you let your sex life suffer because you’re afraid of CPAP therapy?
If you think that you’re too young to be diagnosed with erectile dysfunction, think again. Studies found that a shockingly large number of young men with sleep apnea also have erectile dysfunction. Men aren’t the only ones impaired by sleep disordered breathing. The Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology at Lund University found that women with untreated sleep apnea report much higher rates of sexual dysfunction and discomfort.
How Can Sleep Apnea Ruin Sexual Health?
When you have untreated sleep apnea, your brain is waking you hundreds of times a night, often without your awareness. These wakings are called micro-arousals and are an important safety measure put in place by your body to stimulate your breathing. The downside of these micro-arousals is that waking hundreds of times a night deprives your body of sleep that’s necessary for sexual functioning. Lack of sleep also reduces the hormones that influence this sexual function. Testosterone, a hormone that helps drive sexual performance in both men and women is especially impacted.
Although studies related to the reasoning behind women’s sexual dysfunction from sleep apnea are sparse, we can only guess that the lack of oxygen and micro-arousals are mostly responsible for their issues too.
Treating Sleep Apnea Improves Sex
If you’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea and are experiencing sexual dysfunction, don’t fret. Evidence shows that with treatment of sleep apnea via continuous positive airway pressure therapy, men had healthier erections and reported an improvement in their sex lives. This treatment is painless and will begin correcting your sleep apnea related problems immediately.
Start by asking your health care provider what sort of CPAP mask style they recommend. Then begin shopping for your CPAP machine and system from a retailer who cares about their products. At Breatheeasycpap.com, we provide quality CPAP systems and sleep apnea treatment supplies because we’re health care professionals who genuinely care about your sleep apnea treatment.
