Sleep Medicine

One of the most common tests we perform is a sleep study. Sleep studies allow us to monitor what’s happening in your brain and body while you sleep.

During the test, you will be hooked up to monitors that record your sleep cycle patterns, disruptions to sleep, eye movements, oxygen levels in your blood, heartbeat and breathing rates, body movements and snoring. Everything is monitored through sensors — there are no needles or medications involved.

Most sleep studies are performed at our Sleep Center. These are called Attended Studies. You will be asked to arrive two hours before the start time in order to ensure enough time for set up and relaxation before going to bed.

Unattended studies, or home sleep studies, take place at your home. These are only for the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea, not other sleep disorders. We schedule patients to come to the Sleep Center to receive instructions to set up home sleep study.

Sleep studies can be used to diagnose many sleep disorders, including sleep apnea, narcolepsy, insomnia, parasomnia, restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder. However, not everyone requires a sleep study — your physician may be able to diagnose you just based on your symptoms.

Actigraphs are small monitors that look like wrist watches, and record activity and sleep patterns. Unlike typical sleep studies, which only monitor activity for one night, the actigraphy method allows us to see activity over a period of several days, weeks, or months.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines use air pressure to keep your airway open while you sleep via a hose and mask or nosepiece. They are one of the most common treatments for breathing-related sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea.

Patients who have problems with CPAP, or have sleeping problems despite using CPAP, can return to Stormont Vail for a follow-up appointment. If needed, they might return for a second sleep study.

In addition to getting you set up with your device, we offer compliance follow-up appointments to help you with any problems, such as a mask that doesn’t fit correctly. Once the mask has been fitted correctly, many patients do a second sleep study to ensure that the CPAP is improving their sleep.

Some sleep disorders, such as periodic limb movement disorder or narcolepsy, can be treated with medications. These medications are not always able to cure the disorder, but they can treat the symptoms.