Sleep Studies

Do you regularly wake up with a headache, experience excessive daytime sleepiness, wake up choking, breathless or gasping for air or experience chronic periods of disturbed sleep? If you regularly experience any of the classic signs or symptoms of a sleep problem, talk to your doctor and ask if you could be a candidate for a sleep study.

What is a sleep study?

Sleep studies are a series of tests that help evaluate what happens to the body during sleep. Sleep studies are done to diagnose sleep disorders, which typically include:

Sleep-disordered breathing, which may be caused by certain obstructive or central nervous system disorders
Problems staying awake (from conditions such as narcolepsy)
Problems with sleep-disruptive behaviors (such as sleepwalking, night terrors, or bed-wetting)
Problems with daytime sleepiness or insomnia(from conditions such as sleep apnea or restless legs syndrome)

What happens during the study?

A sleep study is simple and painless and is conducted in a comfortable bed in a private bedroom at FirstHealth Montgomery Memorial, Moore Regional or Moore Regional - Richmond hospitals or at one of our Sandhills Neurologists locations. Sleep Studies can also be conducted in your home.

Dime-size sensors attached to different points on your body provide a continuous record of your brain waves, muscle activity, leg and arm movements, heart rhythms and other functions as you sleep. Stretch bands may be placed around your chest and abdomen to measure the effort you make to breathe. A bandage-like sensor will be placed on your finger to measure your oxygen level.

Usually, you will arrive by 8 p.m. the night of the study and leave by 6:30 a.m. the next morning. However, your sleep may also be studied the next day through a series of naps offered at two-hour intervals. This study, known as an MSLT test, measures daytime sleepiness that is often associated with sleep apnea or narcolepsy, which is a neurological disorder.

What are the benefits?

A Sleep Study records many variables of sleep. Measurements of the amounts of deep sleep you get help determine causes of insomnia. Awakenings, breathing cessation (sleep apnea) and abnormal heart rhythms will be recorded and help your physician target treatment. Untreated sleep disorders can lead to potentially life-threatening situations. Untreated sleep apnea, for example, is associated with an increased risk of stroke and heart attack.