Can Warm Temperatures Affect Sleep Apnea Symptoms?

Sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder, affects millions worldwide, disrupting the quality of their rest and ultimately their overall health. While various factors contribute to sleep apnea, its onset, and its severity, one often overlooked element is temperature. Continue reading below to learn a little more about this curious connection, along with how lowering your bedroom’s temperature might be the key to achieving excellent rest with minimal sleep apnea symptoms.

How Does Temperature Affect Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea episodes occur when a patient’s breathing repeatedly halts throughout the night, often due to an obstruction in the airway. When the airway becomes restricted, the brain responds by waking up the body and normalizing breathing patterns. These episodes can occur hundreds of times in a given night, which often leads to significant sleep loss.

However, the causes of these airway restrictions can vary, and while factors including weight, lifestyle, and genetics play a role, temperature is also a key contributor to sleep apnea. Heat and humidity have a bearing on both your quality of life and your ability to breathe. Studies show connections between an increased amount of wakefulness during a night in warm temperatures, including a smaller amount of rapid eye movement (REM), at which restful, deep sleep occurs.

Is There an Ideal Temperature for Sleeping?

Experts agree that for optimal sleep, the ideal bedroom temperature is between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit – and most people prefer this cooler temperature, anyway! Since the core temperature of our bodies naturally decreases as we fall asleep, it’s preferable to maintain a temperature within this range so that we can ease into sleep. This process is called thermoregulation, but we think about it more along the lines of simply staying cool and comfortable!

The bottom line is that while sleep apnea might be a menace to our nightly rest, we can do several things to mitigate its negative impact – including keeping our bedrooms cool! In any case, if you suspect that you’re suffering from the condition, you shouldn’t hesitate to seek out professional treatment to effectively and fully manage your symptoms.  

About the Practice

Dr. Deborah A. Romack and her talented team at Weatherford Dental Sleep Medicine have proudly served patients in the Weatherford, TX area for several years, offering a wide range of services designed to combat sleep apnea and restore the quality of your rest. If you have any questions about the blog or you’d like to get in touch with her team to set up a visit, you can contact them online or by phone for additional information or assistance. Telephone: (817) 594-3806.