Understanding Sleep Apnea Treatment
Most people don't realize it's happening, but a bed partner might notice snoring, choking, or gasping. Typical symptoms can include ongoing fatigue, moodiness, and brain fog.
Left unaddressed, sleep apnea can increase your risk for heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and even a shorter lifespan.
Those at a higher risk of developing sleep apnea include those carrying extra weight, those who smoke or drink alcohol, or who have certain physical features like large tonsils or a thicker neck.
CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) is the current gold standard, a machine that delivers a constant stream of pressurized air through a mask to keep your airway open. CPAP, oral devices, and surgical interventions are the most common conventional treatment options.
However, some of these approaches may fall short. For instance, while CPAP is effective, studies suggest that roughly 30-50% of people struggle to use it consistently as directed (Rotenberg et al., 2016).
This makes it important to understand how other treatment options may better address the whole story of sleep apnea.
The Regenerative Medicine Approach
Rather than just managing symptoms of sleep apnea, regenerative medicine looks more closely at underlying factors, such as inflammation, metabolic health, muscle function, and the nervous system.
After all, improving how your body functions at the foundational level has the potential for life-changing benefits for those suffering from sleep disorders.
While this isn't a replacement for conventional care, which can certainly have a place, the focus of regenerative medicine is on addressing the underlying systemic issue and taking a whole-body approach.
Treatments That May Help
While CPAP is the gold standard, several other treatments may eventually become more widely used to address more of the underlying causes of sleep apnea. We've detailed some of the lifestyle changes and emerging possibilities below.
Positional Therapy
Sleeping on your back can make it more likely that your tongue and soft tissues can block your airway. So, positional therapy involves training yourself to sleep in positions that keep your airway open, like on your side (Ravesloot, 2024).
As with any treatment, positional therapy works best the more consistently you do it.
One of the simplest ways this therapy is approached is by sewing a tennis ball into the back of a sleep shirt to make back-sleeping uncomfortable.
Lifestyle Changes
Regardless of what health condition you're facing, lifestyle changes can be incredibly powerful.
For sleep apnea, consider the following lifestyle habits to help manage symptoms and support other treatment approaches:
Weight loss, if necessary, ideally with the assistance of a registered dietitian
Optimizing your nutrition, eating plenty of minimally processed, colorful plant foods, and reducing ultra-processed food intake
Moving your body regularly, aiming for at least 150 minutes (e.g., 30 minutes x 5 days per week) of intentional physical activity and at least two days of strength training
Improving your sleep hygiene by setting a regular sleep-wake schedule, creating a sleep-promoting environment in your bedroom, and avoiding alcohol, heavy meals, and screens close to bedtime
Implementing stress management tools, like meditation, journaling, and yoga, to keep extra mental burdens at bay
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
HBOT involves inhaling 100% oxygen in a pressurized chamber and is considered an emerging therapy for sleep apnea.
A 2025 systematic review concludes that while HBOT has shown promise for reducing the frequency and severity of apnea episodes, evidence is preliminary and studies have been mixed, often with varying protocols, small sample sizes, and limited long-term follow-up (Duong-Quy et al., 2025).
Red Light Therapy
Red light therapy uses low levels of red light to affect your body's cells and systems.
It's often used for skin concerns and is being studied as a treatment for sleep apnea, potentially by regulating your circadian rhythm, relaxing muscles, and reducing stress and inflammation.
While not specific to sleep apnea, a 2023 randomized controlled trial found that red light therapy applied to the head and neck before bed may offer benefits to sleep and daytime function (Kennedy et al., 2023). However, more studies are needed on the protocol.
Myofunctional Therapy
Myofunctional therapy intends to retrain the muscles of your face, mouth, and tongue to support better oral function, including breathing while asleep.
It's generally done by a speech language pathologist or orthodontist, who guides you through facial exercises to address abnormal muscle patterns.
Interestingly, myofunctional therapy has the strongest non-conventional evidence, offering approximately a 50% reduction in AHI (apnea-hypopnea index, or how many times you pause breathing at night) according to one review. It's important to note that this evidence comes largely from mild-to-moderate OSA patients (dos Anjos Ferreira et al., 2025).
However, it's not considered a platform modality for sleep apnea at this time.
Medications
While not a first-line treatment for sleep apnea, certain medications have been studied for their potential ability to reduce apnea events, such as:
Glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists (GLP-1s, such as tirzepatide), to support healthy weight management among individuals carrying extra weight, potentially helping improve airway obstruction (D'Annibale et al., 2025).
Acetazolamide and atomoxetine-plus-oxybutynin, by stabilizing breathing and improving muscle control (Sands et al., 2024).
Atomoxetine-trazodone (ato-trazo) or acetazolamide plus eszopiclone, by improving muscle response and preventing it from being so easy to wake up at night
Furthermore, medications -- especially combinations -- tend to come with more side effects, like dry mouth, nausea, drowsiness, and potential vomiting and diarrhea (Nobre et al., 2024; Luu et al., 2025).
What the Evidence Supports
The treatment option for sleep apnea that has the most evidence is the CPAP, which is considered the gold standard for most people (Gambino et al., 2022).
It was invented in the 1980s and is the most effective option for reducing apnea waking events at night and improving symptoms and comorbidities.
Additionally, lifestyle medicine approaches are proven to improve overall health outcomes (Phillips et al., 2020).
Eating a nutrient-dense diet, getting regular physical activity, stress management, not smoking, avoiding alcohol, and cultivating good sleep hygiene practices have many more benefits than risks, both for preventing the development and worsening of sleep apnea (Kolla et al., 2018; Zeng et al., 2023; Wong et al., 2021; Xue & Zhou et al., 2024; Archontogeorgis et al., 2025).
Healthy weight management is also important, especially when there's extra weight to lose. For example, a 10% reduction in body weight has been shown to reduce apnea events by at least 26% (Mou et al., 2024)
Where the Evidence Is Limited
Most HBOT and red light therapy studies for sleep apnea involve small samples, don't have control (non-intervention) groups, or use varying protocols.
The evidence for myofunctional therapy, while exciting, comes mostly from mild-to-moderate OSA populations, which means it doesn't necessarily apply to more severe cases.
Overall, we just don't have enough data or robust studies yet to make widespread recommendations for their use.
This is how treatments for all sorts of health conditions start, though, so bear in mind that there is still hope for additional options.
Combining Treatments
More often than not, a combination of treatments may be recommended for sleep apnea. After all, there's no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to your health.
For example, a 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that the combination of myofunctional therapy with CPAP drastically reduced apnea events among participants (Xu et al., 2025)
Additionally, lifestyle recommendations are also universally recommended along with other therapies.
Overall, the most effective treatment plans tend to be individualized combinations based on your unique needs and the discretion of your provider.
Finding the Right Provider
If you haven't yet been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but are concerned that you may have it, it's worth bringing it up with your primary care provider. They can help assess your symptoms and may suggest a sleep study and refer you to a sleep specialist to help with the next steps.
A practitioner for apnea should be a board-certified sleep specialist. It's important to find someone you're comfortable with, who makes you feel heard, and offers flexibility in their approach to treatment based on your preferences.
Here are a few questions to ask in your visit:
What type of sleep apnea do I have, and what is the most effective treatment approach for it?
Are there lifestyle changes that could also support my treatment plan?
Are there risks associated with this type of apnea and its treatment?
Can you help me understand my out-of-pocket costs and insurance coverage?
During your conversation, watch for red flags. For instance, providers who dismiss CPAP outright in favor of unproven or expensive therapies, or simply make you feel unheard, may not be the best fit.
Takeaway
Sleep apnea is very common, so know that if you're living with it, you're not alone.
While untreated apnea can have significant health effects, there are effective treatment options available -- and more being studied every day in this evolving field. Treatment often requires some trial and adjustment, as not every approach works for every person.
Taking the first step and speaking with your trusted healthcare provider can begin your journey to symptom relief, better sleep, and improved quality of life.
