Childhood Sleep Disordered Breathing
Our Pediatric Treatment Approach: Understanding Sleep Disordered Breathing
As parents we want to give our children the best opportunities to succeed in life. What if something as simple as breathing could be interfering with your child’s success? Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is an all–inclusive term for breathing difficulties, ranging from mild snoring to a severe obstruction during sleep (sleep apnea). When your child’s breathing is impeded, their body recognizes the interruption similarly to choking, slowing the heart rate, raising the blood pressure, arousing the brain, and ultimately disrupting sleep. This prevents proper brain function the next day and often leads to other medical complications. This short video demonstrates how sleep disordered breathing happens:
Signs & Symptoms of SDB
Unfortunately, 9 out of 10 children suffer from one or more symptoms of sleep disordered breathing/sleep apnea. Symptoms like ADHD/ADD, bed-wetting, night terrors, poor school performance, impaired growth, snoring and mouth breathing are just some of the outer signs of SDB. These symptoms do not self-correct. In fact, 93% of children will continue to exhibit these symptoms throughout their life and 30% will worsen with age.
THE SOLUTION TO CHILDHOOD SDB
In the following video, Connor’s mother Valerie was at her wits end hoping for a solution for her son. She found that undiagnosed airway problems and mouth breathing were the culprits behind his development, academic and behavioral issues. Getting her son back happened through treating Connor’s underdeveloped upper and lower jaws. Now there is a way to achieve natural jaw and airway growth through the Vivos oral appliance that kids where at night. Connor had his tonsils and adenoids removed, but with the Vivos appliance there is NO need for surgery or unnatural medications. Connor’s story is in the video.
Pediatric Treatment May Include:
Myofunctional therapy – a program used to correct the improper function of the tongue and facial muscles by strengthening the them through specific exercises
Lingual frenectomy – sometimes people are born with a lingual frenum (connects your tongue to your mouth) that’s very short, restricting their tongue’s movement. This condition is called ankyloglossia, or “tongue tie.” Tongue tie can interfere with breastfeeding during the infant years and speech development as a child grows older. A quick procedure called a lingual frenectomy gives the tongue greater range of motion and alleviates airway obstruction that was caused by a restricted tongue.