Doctors Answers (5)
If you have sleep apnea, you should start treatment as soon as possible. There is no particular age bracket to start treatment. Although it is more prevalent in older adults, there are children and young adults with sleep apnea who start treatment when the diagnosis is made.
CPAP therapy is recommended for children beginning at 8 years of age. Anytime between 8 and 100 years old is the time to start. Many persons don't exhibit the need for CPAP therapy until later in life but if you have sleep apnea then you should consider starting CPAP therapy tonight. jdh
CPAP or BIPAP is the mainstay of treatment for adults at any age and some obese children for that matter who don't respond to other measures such as tonsillectomy. The more severe the degree of sleep disordered breathing the grater the benefit. For mild to moderate forms of sleep apnea an oral appliance or even palatal surgery are reasonable alternatives if you can't tolerate a mask. These other options are better than no treatment at all.
There is no lower age limit to use of CPAP. Therefore you should begin using CPAP as soon as possible after diagnosis and your doctor's recommendation for this treatment. You will be vulnerable to the health risks associated with sleep apnea until you start treatment. It is okay to "take charge" of your sleep disorder; don't let it take charge of you.
You should be using a cpap machine as soon as you are properly diagnosed with sleep apnea. A delay can lead to a number of health problems due to the lack of oxygen to all of your cellular tissue/organs.
