There has been a growing number of people with sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea in the past years. For example, a surge in people experiencing breathing issues in sleep developed during the time of the pandemic, and that led the experts to advance to sleep telemedicine concerning the COVID-19 protocol.
Health professionals use virtual telemedicine platforms to cater to many mental health issues and other physical ailments. These modern technologies allow them to work with patients at all stages, including assessments, symptoms checking, evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, follow-up, and rehabilitation.
In this blog, you will learn about how telemedicine works for sleep disorders, the benefits of getting sleep telemedicine services, and the effectiveness of telemedicine treatment options.
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What Is Sleep Telemedicine?
Sleep telemedicine is similar to telemedicine for other mental and physical conditions. The main idea is to help patients from remote locations to get virtual diagnoses and treatment for the sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and insomnia from the comfort of their homes. The primary mode of consultations and treatment sessions is held via video calls, audio calls, emails, or texts. Both the doctors and patients can easily exchange their diagnostic lab tests, medical documentation, and prescriptions online. A sleep therapist will assess your insomnia or sleep apnea symptoms during the session, provide you with a legit diagnosis, and devise the most suitable treatment plan. A plan may be based on a multi-modal approach and include different interventions, such as therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes.
Sleep Apnea and Insomnia Treatment Options & Diagnosis via Telemedicine
Sleep disorders can only be diagnosed by a certified mental health expert. The professional will assess your insomnia and sleep apnea symptoms by connecting with you through a video call when it comes to telemedicine. The diagnosis of insomnia is easily carried out via a video call, whereas sleep apnea often requires an in-person visit to see a doctor. The reason is that the standard diagnostic process for sleep apnea includes home sleep tests that measure the intensity of your symptoms based on your heart rate, breathing pattern, airflow, and oxygen levels. In contrast, insomnia diagnosis only demands reporting possible symptoms for a specific duration of time.
Sleep Apnea and Insomnia: Treatment Options Through Telemedicine
The general approach to treating both of these sleep problems falls under the following interventions:
- Therapy
- Medication
- Lifestyle changes
But, sleep apnea requires more complex treatment received by professionals than insomnia, mainly based on changing your lifestyle and professional treatment.
Telemedicine has a limited approach to receiving treatment for sleep apnea because its imperative modalities strictly require an in-person visit to your doctor. These procedures include:
- Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP).
- Other airway pressure devices such as auto CPAP.
- Appliances and breathing equipment to monitor your breathing dynamics while you are asleep.
- Mandibular advancement device.
Virtual treatment for sleep apnea involves treating other underlying health issues such as cardiac problems and respiratory problems. Other telemedicine insomnia treatment options are as follows:
- Sleep restriction
- Light therapy
- Stimulant control therapy
- Relaxation exercise
- Lifestyle changes, such as switching to a healthy diet, limiting caffeine and alcohol, and optimal level of daily exercise
You might get a medication prescription if your doctor determines you need it.
Delaying mental health treatment can worsen your symptoms and make your life complicated.
What Are the 10 Advantages of Using Telemedicine for Sleep Disorders?
According to research, approximately 75% of people are optimistic about trying telemedicine for their mental and physical health issues compared to in-person visits. The virtual approach to health services is becoming popular day by day due to the following reasons listed below:
- No commute expanse
Sleep telemedicine cut down spending money on getting rides to visit your doctors and return home. Patients can see their doctors through their devices, such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets, etc., which saves enormous bucks that would have been spent on parking, gas, or even public transportation.
- No need to disturb your work routine
Telemedicine allows you to get your appointment schedules according to your ease and availability. For example, you can fix your appointment with a doctor during your break hours, weekends, and holidays. This helps you get through your work life along with medical treatment smoothly.
- On-demand remote care options
Since more practitioners are joining telemedicine platforms for delivering their medical services, patients get a chance to access healthcare professionals regularly with greater availability of resources and services on-demand.
- Fewer chances of acquiring other illnesses
Visiting a mental health professional in their clinical setting increases the chances of getting other illnesses such as allergies, infections, and viruses. In addition, telemedicine ensures a contactless treatment process in the same home environment.
- Eliminated stress for children and eldercare
Thanks to telemedicine services, you don’t have to worry about taking a child or an elder relative to the healthcare facility by taking time from your work or personal routine.
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- Access to specialists from any remote location
If you are one of those who have been ignoring their mental health issues because you live far away from the health care facilities or have restricted mobility, getting sleep telemedicine is your ultimate solution. Due to it, you can access diagnostic and therapeutic services while staying at your home.
- No waiting lines to see your doctor
Choosing a video conferencing session with your mental health provider saves you all the time from getting wasted while waiting outside your doctor’s room, sitting for your turn.
- Effective symptom management
It is seen that patients getting treatment via sleep telemedicine platforms have shown good outcomes regarding symptom management and mental satisfaction. The reason remains regular and convenient follow-ups to the treatment plan and ongoing consultation with the mental health expert.
- Removed location barriers
Some of us are traveling all the time, which leaves us in a situation of not being able to see our therapist and follow up with treatment. However, virtual access to your mental health professional remains intact wherever you travel. You can also get online telehealth prescription for faster drug refills if you require extra medicine for your travel, as determined by the health experts.
The Bottom Line
Sleep clinicians are using sleep telemedicine options to reach out to the maximum number of people who require diagnostic and treatment services for sleep disorders such as insomnia and sleep apnea. Both these sleep disorders have distinctive characteristics and approaches to treatment. In addition, there are many benefits of getting sleep telemedicine service in terms of cost-effectiveness, time-saving, and efficiency.
