One of the main reasons why sleep apnea is so common these days is that modern human's facial skeleton and jaws are much smaller than what they used to be hundreds of years ago. Dentists are saying that people didn't get impacted molars hundreds of years agosince they had much more room inside their mouths. Dr. Weston Pricein his classic bookNutrition and Physical Degenerationdescribes how due to a radical change in our diets from naturalorganic foods to highly processed and sugary foodsour jaws are getting smaller and smaller.
Think about your facial skeleton as the walls of a house. The soft tissues are the furniture. As you move the walls inwardthere's less space for the furniture and less space for you to walk through the room. To improve the situationyou either have to widen the walls or remove some furniture. This is what's done with the various sleep apnea treatment options that involve surgery. With CPAPpicture yourself navigating through the crowded furniture a bit faster to get to the other side.
A very important concept that many forward-thinking physicians and dentists point out is that the soft tissues (your facial skinand internal structures like your tongue or septal cartilage) grow to its' genetically predetermined size. If you have smaller jawsthen you'll have crowding in your mouthwith partial obstruction of the breathing passageways behind the tongue. This is why many modern humans can't sleep on our backs. With gravitythe tongue falls backand when you add deep sleep with additional muscle relaxationyou'll stop breathing and keep waking up.
The same process applies with the nasal septum. If your jaws are more narrowthe roof of your mouth gets pushed up into your nasal cavity. Then one of two things can occur: the septum (which sits on the floor of your nosewhich is also the roof of your mouth)buckles to one side or the otherof the septum stays in placebut causes the maxillary bone underneath to splay apartleading to the symmetric right and left maxillary bone spurs that you'll often see. Sometimesdue to the constant stimulation of the septum on the roof of your moutha midline bony bulge can occur in your mouth (called a torus palatini).
If you upper jaw is underdeveloped from a front and back perspectivethen your upper lip and lower nose will be pulled down and inleading to the appearance of a nasal hump. This is one of the most common reasons for a traditional rhinoplasty. Furthermoreunderdevelopment of the lower jaw creates the classic weak chinwhich is traditionally treated with chin implants. Cheek bones are also underdevelopedleading to a lowering of the lower eyelid and flattening of the face under the eyes. Since the facial skeleton is smallerthe skin that drapes the bony structures are more laxand with agingtends to sag and wrinkle easier. An excellentmore thorough review of these concepts can be found here.
When I first read about this processmy eyes were opened as to why there's so many sinus problemsnasal congestionheadachesTMJand various sleep-breathing problems. This is also why when one specialty treats one particular problem (ENTs treating the sinus problemdentists treating the TMJ problemthe neurologist treating the headacheand the dermatologist treating the wrinklesetc.)these problems always tend to come back.
What do you think about what I'm describing? Is it academic hypeor should we be afraid of our very future? Please enter your comments in the comments box below.
One of the main reasons why sleep apnea is so common these days is that modern human's facial skeleton and jaws are much smaller than what they used to be hundreds of years ago. Dentists are saying that people didn't get impacted molars hundreds of years agosince they had much more room inside their mouths. Dr. Weston Pricein his classic bookNutrition and Physical Degenerationdescribes how due to a radical change in our diets from naturalorganic foods to highly processed and sugary foodsour jaws are getting smaller and smaller.
Think about your facial skeleton as the walls of a house. The soft tissues are the furniture. As you move the walls inwardthere's less space for the furniture and less space for you to walk through the room. To improve the situationyou either have to widen the walls or remove some furniture. This is what's done with the various sleep apnea treatment options that involve surgery. With CPAPpicture yourself navigating through the crowded furniture a bit faster to get to the other side.
A very important concept that many forward-thinking physicians and dentists point out is that the soft tissues (your facial skinand internal structures like your tongue or septal cartilage) grow to its' genetically predetermined size. If you have smaller jawsthen you'll have crowding in your mouthwith partial obstruction of the breathing passageways behind the tongue. This is why many modern humans can't sleep on our backs. With gravitythe tongue falls backand when you add deep sleep with additional muscle relaxationyou'll stop breathing and keep waking up.
The same process applies with the nasal septum. If your jaws are more narrowthe roof of your mouth gets pushed up into your nasal cavity. Then one of two things can occur: the septum (which sits on the floor of your nosewhich is also the roof of your mouth)buckles to one side or the otherof the septum stays in placebut causes the maxillary bone underneath to splay apartleading to the symmetric right and left maxillary bone spurs that you'll often see. Sometimesdue to the constant stimulation of the septum on the roof of your moutha midline bony bulge can occur in your mouth (called a torus palatini).
If you upper jaw is underdeveloped from a front and back perspectivethen your upper lip and lower nose will be pulled down and inleading to the appearance of a nasal hump. This is one of the most common reasons for a traditional rhinoplasty. Furthermoreunderdevelopment of the lower jaw creates the classic weak chinwhich is traditionally treated with chin implants. Cheek bones are also underdevelopedleading to a lowering of the lower eyelid and flattening of the face under the eyes. Since the facial skeleton is smallerthe skin that drapes the bony structures are more laxand with agingtends to sag and wrinkle easier. An excellentmore thorough review of these concepts can be found here.
When I first read about this processmy eyes were opened as to why there's so many sinus problemsnasal congestionheadachesTMJand various sleep-breathing problems. This is also why when one specialty treats one particular problem (ENTs treating the sinus problemdentists treating the TMJ problemthe neurologist treating the headacheand the dermatologist treating the wrinklesetc.)these problems always tend to come back.
What do you think about what I'm describing? Is it academic hypeor should we be afraid of our very future? Please enter your comments in the comments box below.