Lab Sleep Studies

Lab sleep studies are overnight assessments at a specialist center that help diagnose sleep disorders. At Quiet Dental PC’s offices in the Pelham Bay/Morris Park section of the Bronx in New York, the team uses sleep study data to determine the best treatment for obstructive sleep apnea so you can get a restful night’s sleep. Call Quiet Dental PC to learn how lab sleep studies could benefit you, or use the online booking tool to request a consultation.

What are lab sleep studies?

A lab sleep study (polysomnography) is a test that determines what’s causing difficulties sleeping or other sleep-related problems. The studies assess each sleep cycle stage, making detailed recordings of your:

• Breathing patterns
• Oxygen levels
• Brain waves
• Heart rate
• Eye movements
• Leg movements

This information reveals clues about your sleep disorder’s cause so you can get the best treatment.

When would I need to participate in lab sleep studies?

You might benefit from participating in a lab sleep study if you develop sleep disorder symptoms like excessive daytime sleepiness, struggling to get or stay asleep, poor quality sleep, and other issues affecting your rest. Sleep is fundamental to mental and physical health, so a lack of restorative sleep can severely affect your well-being and could shorten your life.

Disorders a lab sleep study helps identify include:

• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Central sleep apnea
• Insomnia
• Sleepwalking
• Restless leg syndrome
• Narcolepsy
• Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behavior disorder

After receiving a sleep disorder diagnosis, further studies help assess treatment effectiveness.

What can I expect from a lab sleep study?

When you arrive, the sleep center staff checks you in and explains what will happen. They attach sensors to various parts of your body that transmit data about brain, heart, and muscle activity, breathing, and eye movements.

Your lab sleep study center will have comfortable private rooms with regular-style beds to help you sleep, but the staff knows it can be hard to relax in an unfamiliar place even when you don’t have a sleep disorder. Although the sleep center can’t match being at home, lab sleep studies provide valuable information that significantly aids diagnosis.

Most people have an overnight stay at the sleep center. However, you can request a daytime lab sleep study if you work nights.

What happens after lab sleep studies are over?

After completing your lab sleep study, you can go home and continue life as usual. When you visit again, your provider offers a detailed lab sleep study evaluation and discusses what it means going forward.

Your provider creates a personalized treatment plan to address your sleeping problem and explains how the treatments work. Depending on what the study reveals, you might benefit from treatments like a mandibular advancement device, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), an Inspire® sleep apnea implant, or surgery. 

Call Quiet Dental PC for further information on lab sleep studies, or schedule a consultation online today.