Why Would I Need a Sleep Study?
Sleep studies are important diagnostic tools for common sleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders. Sleep studies have proven to be particularly important in Alaska where the extreme darkness and lightness tend to either cause or worsen sleep disorders.
Generally, sleep studies are used when:
- You feel there are major “red flags” in your ability to get healthy sleep but don’t know what the problem is
- You need to confirm a specific sleep disorder diagnosis
Sleep studies are non-invasive and painless. They monitor:
- Brainwave activity
- Eye movement
- Muscle movement
- Heart activity
- Breathing
- Blood oxygen level
In a sleep study, you will conduct your sleep study over night at our facility.
How Do I Prepare For Sleep Studies?
Here are some good practices you can undertake to prepare for your sleep study:
- Avoid napping the day of your study
- Avoid alcohol, caffeine, sedatives, and stimulates 24 hours before your study
- Eat regular meals on the day of your study
- On the day of your study, avoid using hair products such as oils and sprays
- Bring comfortable sleep attire
- Bring your regularly scheduled medications
- Make sure we are aware of any disabilities or other accommodations you might have
Other than this, the idea is to study your sleep as if you were at home.
What Should I Bring to a Sleep Study?
Basically, you can pretend you are going to stay at a hotel for the night in terms of what you should bring:
- Comfortable clothes
- A toothbrush and other nighttime routine things
- Any other comfortable items you prefer to sleep with
Also be sure to bring any needed paperwork and medications you take. There are bathrooms as well.
How Long Are Sleep Studies?
Sleep studies are an overnight experience, usually starting in the late evening and ending early morning, around 5:30 am to 6:30 am.
What Will Happen During a Sleep Study?
During your sleep study, you will be hooked up to monitoring equipment. Fortunately, it’s not very invasive and most people do not have trouble with it.
You will have a bathroom available and a private room. If you need to use the bathroom, sleep specialists can assist you in removing and reapplying the monitoring equipment.
As you sleep, a lot of information is collected about your sleeping. This information is reviewed by sleep specialists and our Medical Director.
During a sleep study, you don’t have to do anything special except for sleep.
What Will Happen When My Sleep Study is Finished?
After your sleep study, our Medical Director will review your results and them forward the final report to your doctor, usually in 2-5 business days.
