If you’ve been waking up tired, snoring loudly, or feeling drained no matter how much you sleep, your doctor may suspect sleep apnea, a condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep.
Traditionally, diagnosing it meant spending the night in a sleep lab hooked up to monitors. However, Dr. Fahmi Farah and our team at Bentley Heart offer an alternative option: the home sleep apnea test.
This simplified approach can make getting an accurate diagnosis easier and more comfortable. Here’s how it works, what to expect, and why it’s such a valuable tool in protecting your heart and overall health.
Sleep apnea isn’t just about snoring or daytime fatigue. If sleep apnea goes untreated, it can strain your heart, raise your blood pressure, and increase your risk for serious conditions like heart attack, stroke, and arrhythmias.
For our expert cardiologist, identifying and treating sleep apnea is a crucial step in managing and preventing heart disease. That’s why having a convenient, reliable testing option matters.
A home sleep apnea test is a portable, easy-to-use device you take home from our office. It measures key signs of sleep apnea while you sleep in your own bed.
It’s not quite as comprehensive as an in-lab study — home sleep apnea tests focus specifically on detecting obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common type. But for many patients, they provide enough accurate information to confirm a diagnosis and start treatment.
When you pick up your home sleep apnea test, we walk you through exactly how to set it up. The device is small and lightweight, with sensors and straps that you attach yourself before bed.
Our home sleep apnea tests measure
Once everything’s in place, you go to sleep as usual. The device quietly records data all night. In the morning, you remove the sensors, return the device to your doctor, and they review the results.
For many patients, a home sleep apnea test offers clear advantages over an in-lab study. The biggest draw is comfort: You get to sleep in your bed, which often leads to results that better reflect your typical sleep patterns.
There’s also the convenience factor; you don’t have to arrange an overnight stay, travel to a sleep center, or work around a lab’s schedule.
Because the equipment is portable and easy to use, the process is more accessible, and we can usually arrange it faster than a traditional sleep study.
And for many people, cost is another benefit, since a home test is generally less expensive than a full polysomnography done in a lab.
While HSAT is an excellent option for many, it’s not the right fit for everyone. If your doctor suspects you have a more complex sleep disorder, if your symptoms are unclear, or if you have certain health conditions, an overnight lab study may still be recommended.
Your test report reveals how often you stop or reduce breathing during the night, measured by the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). It will also note changes in oxygen levels and any patterns that suggest obstructive sleep apnea.
If your results confirm OSA, you can move forward with a treatment plan, which might include lifestyle changes, a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, or other therapies.
Home sleep apnea tests are a game-changer for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea. They make it easier to get answers and start treatment without the hassle of an overnight stay in a sleep lab.
Discuss with your doctor whether a home sleep apnea test is suitable for you, and then contact our friendly staff at 817-720-5185 or use our online booking tool to schedule a consultation at our Fort Worth, Texas, office today.