Lack of sleep is both a quality of life issue and, more importantly, a health issue. Poor sleep not only makes you feel tired and irritable, it can usher in heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and other serious health problems. At Central Maine Medical Center, our highly trained team – including board-certified pulmonologists, technologists and other sleep specialists – use proven tool and techniques to identify and treat a full range of sleep disorders.
We’re home to a full-service sleep center right here in Lewiston, with national accreditation by the Academy of Sleep Medicine. That means when you visit for us an overnight study, you can expect the highest-quality care, in a comfortable setting designed to help get the answers you need to sleep well.
Benefits of a Sleep Study
Whether it’s sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, sleepwalking, limb movements, other sleep disorder or general anxiety about your life that’s keeping you from getting good rest, your assessment at Central Maine Healthcare is likely to start with a sleep study. The benefits of under doing this specialized exam are immense:
- A sleep study can stop your sleep disorder in its tracks. If you’re having trouble concentrating, feel tired or irritable during the day, or experience other symptoms of sleep disorders, a sleep study will measure your blood oxygen levels, leg and arm movements, sleep patterns and other benchmarks to tell us why you don’t sleep and what we can do about it.
- Your sleep disorder can affect your partner’s health as much as yours. It’s not easy to sleep soundly with someone whose legs are constantly twitching and moving, or a person who snores loudly. You owe it to yourself and your partner to get good rest.
- A sleep study will fast-track you to feeling better. Sleeping better can boost your work or school performance, lower your stress levels and stop the nightmares and morning headaches that come with sleep apnea and other sleep disorders.
- Most insurance plans will cover your sleep study and solutions based on the results. Even if you have to pay for some or all of the study, it’s a good investment in your healthy future.
What to Expect During Your Overnight Stay
A sleep study is a medical exam, but if you’re expecting a cold hospital bed in a clinical setting, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the Central Maine Sleep Center.
You will arrive for your study late in the evening and be shown to your room—a warm, inviting, professionally decorated private bedroom where you will spend the night. You’re welcome to bring your favorite novel (though bringing work is discouraged—you’re supposed to relax) and you’ll have total control over the temperature, lighting and TV. Your room is also equipped with its own private bath and shower to make you feel at much as home as possible.
A technician will attach wires to select spots on your head, limbs and torso with a painless substance. Then you can settle back, watch TV, read or go to sleep. That’s all you need to do.
Data collected during the sleep study will ascertain whether you have a sleep disorder, and your doctor will make recommendations based on that outcome. If you’re diagnosed with sleep apnea, it’s possible you will be asked to return for a second sleep study to determine the type of mask you will need for your CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machine and the best air-flow settings to get you to sleep.
A bonus to undergoing a sleep study is the convenience: the technician will wake you very early in the morning, so you can shower at the Sleep Center or at home and still get to work on time—or treat yourself to an early breakfast. There’s no need to take any time off work for your study.
Physician referrals are required for a sleep study. For more information, please contact the Sleep Center:
Central Maine Sleep Center
60 High Street
Lewiston, Maine 04240
