A sleep study is done at a sleep center. During a sleep study, you sleep at the clinic, and your sleep is observed by trained sleep technologists. The sleep technologist analyzes your sleep to figure out how to help you get better sleep and to figure out if you suffer from a sleep disorder that could be treated.
Before your sleep study, there are specific actions you should take to prepare for your sleep study. Doing these actions will help ensure the sleep study goes as smoothly as possible and helps generate as much useful information as possible.
#1 Complete Paperwork Ahead of Time
Just like with any visit to the doctor's office, there is going to be paperwork you will have to fill out for the sleep clinic. However, you don't want to have to fill out all that paperwork on the actual day you are coming in for the sleep study. On that day, you can to be focused on relaxing.
Stop by the sleep clinic ahead of time and fill out all the necessary paperwork. Or see if you can download the forms from the internet, fill them out, and bring them in with you when you come in for the sleep study.
#2 Let the Clinic Know About Special Needs
Next, let the clinic know if you have any special needs that they will need to accommodate. For example, do you have any physical limitations? Do you have trouble getting in and out of bed? Inform the sleep clinic of any special needs you have in advance so they can arrange the proper accommodations for your visit.
#3 Take a Shower Before Arriving
Before you head off to the sleep clinic, take a shower. You want to clean your hair in order to get rid of any conditioners, gels, and other styling products you add to your hair. When you get out of the shower, do not use any conditioning or styling products.
During the sleep study, electrodes will be attached to your head. These electrodes are used to measure brain activity when you sleep. It can be much harder to attach these electrodes when you have styling products in your hair.
#4 Check Your Nails
If you wear nail polish, you are going to want to remove it before you come in. A pulse oximeter will be attached to an index finger. If you have nail polish on your index finger, it will interfere with the operation of the pulse oximeter, which is why it is best to remove any nail polish before you show up.
#5 Avoid Naps the Day of the Study
You want to be able to actually sleep when you go in for your sleep study, so you should avoid napping the day of your study. Don't oversleep that morning either. Get up when you normally do and go about your normal day. You may want to limit caffeine as well, but the entire point is to study what your normal habits surrounding sleep are and make changes to them.
Share14 March 2019
One day I was playing a game of basketball with a friend, and the friend I was playing ball with tripped and took a hard fall to the ground. He hit his head hard, but he insisted he was okay and just wanted to go home and take a nap. I knew in my heart that he was not thinking clearly, and I didn't feel right letting him go home. I talked him into letting me take him to the hospital, and after some tests, it was determined he had a bad concussion. The doctors told me that if I had let him go home and sleep, things could have taken a turn for the worse. I created this blog to remind everyone to look out for each other after injuries. Not everyone thinks clearly after a head injury, and just being a good friend could save a life.