A split night sleep study can help you get to the bottom of the sleep and wakefulness issues that are disrupting your rest and hampering your quality of life. At St. Francis Sleep, Allergy & Lung Institute, Dr. Frank Averill might recommend this test to determine whether you have sleep apnea, a common disorder that causes a person to stop breathing repeatedly while sleeping. A board-certified sleep medicine physician with extensive experience, Dr. Averill treats patients from Clearwater, New Port Richey, Palm Harbor, and other Florida communities.
If you have sleep apnea, a proper diagnosis and treatment are essential because your vital organs might not be receiving an adequate supply of oxygen. This can lead to chronic heart or lung disease, and also make you feel tired during the day. If you’re concerned that the experience of sleeping in a lab might be a bit stressful or intimidating, you can “rest assured” that a split night sleep study at St. Francis is neither. After you arrive, you’ll be given time to make yourself comfortable amid the peaceful surroundings of a state-of-the-art sleeping room where you’ll find many of the amenities of home. Then, a knowledgeable and friendly sleep technician will answer any last-minute questions you might have and help to put you at ease.
During the first half of the night, your sleep will be unobtrusively monitored and important data will be collected and recorded. This might include information about your:
- Brain waves
- Heartbeats
- Eye movements
- Breathing patterns
- Blood oxygen level
- Limb movements
At the halfway point, Dr. Averill will review this comprehensive evaluation of your sleep to diagnose and rule out various disorders. If he determines that you have sleep apnea, he might order a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) titration to identify the proper parameters for your treatment. CPAP involves the use of mild air pressure to keep a patient’s airways open during sleep. To get started, a technician will help you select and put on a comfortable CPAP mask through which air will flow as you sleep. Then, throughout the night, the technician will monitor and adjust the air pressure to normalize your breathing.
A split night sleep study can help ensure that you receive a proper diagnosis and treatment for your sleep disorder. Contact St. Francis today if you think you might need a sleep test, or if you’d like to discuss your sleep issues with Dr. Averill. Our clinic is convenient to residents of Clearwater, New Port Richey, Palm Harbor, and the surrounding FL areas.