What's Your Neck Size?

If your neck size is over 17 inches, 16 inches for women, you are at risk for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). You may have heart problems too. About 18 million Americans suffer from OSA. Most people don't know they have it because it only occurs during sleep. A family member and/or bed partner may be the one to notice.

Sleep apnea is a common disorder. It is also very dangerous.

The most common type of sleep apnea happens when your breathing stops during sleep. It can stop for about 10 seconds to as long as a minute. You wake up trying to breathe. This stop-and-start cycle of waking to breathe can repeat hundreds of times a night.
The danger is that some time you may not wake up to breathe. If this happens, you can die.

Signs of Sleep Apnea

Snoring loud and often, and too much daytime sleepiness may be signs of sleep apnea.

Who Can Get Sleep Apnea?

People with sleep apnea tend to be overweight, but it can affect anyone. It is more common among men than women. Most people lose weight from the neck quickly, so a 5% loss will reduce OSA symptoms.

If Untreated:

If untreated, sleep apnea can be life threatening.

Increase the risk for high blood pressure
Coronary heart disease
Heart attack
Stroke
Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) known as mini-strokes
Obesity
Diabetes
Heart failure
Irregular heartbeats
Increase the chance of having work-related accidents
Increase the chance of having driving accidents, such as falling asleep at the wheel

Treatment

Lifestyle changes - such as losing weight, avoiding beer, wine, liquor, tobacco, and sleeping pills
Mouthpieces
A breathing device that pushes air through the airway called a CPAP
In some cases a person may need surgery to make the airway bigger

I just measured my neck. Since I have a metal measuring tape but no flexible tailors or sewing tape I had to wrap my cellphone charger cord around my neck and then measure my marks on that.

Just shy of 17 inches for me.

It's funny that you mention this, for the last couple of months I've noticed that sometimes if I lay on the couch in an odd position, but still a position I would normally lay in for years prior, I have a tiny bit of trouble breathing, just enough to make me change my position.

I saw a TV show about this one time. There are two types of sleep apnea: in one, the airway is obstructed by the extra weight around the neck, in the other, a person just stops breathing with no obstruction and is usually overweight. If you are overweight, the most effective treatment for sleep apnea is to get on a program of diet and exercise to lose weight.

Gee, if anyone would have seen you with that cell phone cord around your neck, they may have gotten a little bit concerned. haha. But yeah, that's a good way to measure when you don't have a flexible measuring tape. And your neck size is in the range of what it says it should be, so good for you. Are you going to go to the doctor to see what that breathing problem is you have laying that certain way? I know I read somewhere else on this site you don't like to go to the doctor!!



Yeah, they both are scary, especially if there is no one around when you sleep that can tell you if you have it. I measured my neck, and it's 13 and 1/2 inches.

You read right !
I went the the emergency room once with a split growth plate, waited in the place for hours, and they x-rayed me then sent me home in a sling because there's nothing they can do for a split growth plate. Then sent me a $900 bill. After that the only way I'm going to the doctor is if I'm unconcious and someone takes me there.

I know why I'm breathing funny, it's the extra weight. I was about 180lbs for years, then went up to about 235lbs and now I'm at about 225lbs. I bet if I drop 25-40 lbs I'll be breathing normal again. I don't need to pay a doctor $100+ to tell me that.

I feel the same way about those doctor bills!!! I broke my big toe a few years ago. It wouldn't heal and wouldn't heal, so I finally gave in and went to the doctor. The doctor took x-rays and came out to tell me that, in fact, my big toe was broken! He also told me that they cannot cast a big toe, so the only thing I was able to do was rest it. $400 - $500 later I walked out of there in no better shape then I was before I went in. I actually came out in worse shape, because I had almost $500 less dollars in my pocket!