What is a Sleep Study?
Sleep studies are important diagnostic tools for common sleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, circadian and 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
You will conduct your sleep study overnight at our facility.
How to Prepare for a Sleep Study?
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 for us to study your sleep as if you were at home.
What to Bring to Your 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 necessary paperwork and medications you take.
How Long Do Sleep Studies Last?
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, there is a 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 Happens After My Sleep Study?
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. To set up your sleep study, or learn more about it, please click the orange button to take a free online sleep test and talk with one of our sleep health professionals.
