Lynda Aplin of SleepWise has been involved with helping people get better sleep for nearly 20 years since being given the opportunity to specialize in Sleep Health and develop a local service. Lynda has an extensive Nursing background which includes a Masters in Nursing focusing on providing care in the community, Sleep & other Long-term Conditions (Diabetes, Cardiac & Respiratory, Mental Health).
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The most common sleep condition and focus of the clinic is the diagnosis and treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnoea. This is when the airway collapses during sleep with the main symptom being heavy snoring, stopping breathing, frequent waking throughout the night and waking feeling unrefreshed and often sleepy during the day.
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Oxygen levels can get very low, with the body responding to wake the person frequently. Such activation over time can lead to high blood pressure, cardiac issues, weight gain, low mood, and many other conditions.
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Such poor-quality sleep can leave a person very sleep deprived with poor levels of alertness, poor memory, and at risk of falling asleep inadvertently while driving or at the workplace.
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Lynda has developed processes to make diagnosis & treatment easy and less disruptive for people. A short consult to discuss each person’s sleep issues is followed by a sleep test, which involves wearing a small monitor overnight in one’s own home. The report provides data that will help guide the best treatment options for each person.
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Treatment choices might include a surgical referral, weight management or a trial of CPAP (Positive Airway Pressure) therapy which is the ‘gold standard’ treatment. CPAP involves using a small, quiet machine with a mask that creates a splinting air pressure to keep the airway open. This will stop any snoring & allow you to breathe easily so you can then get on with the task of getting sound & uninterrupted sleep. The sleepiness goes quickly, and people feel quite refreshed on waking with much better energy and alertness. CPAP is a treatment that works but only works if you use it every night. SleepWise provides ongoing monitoring, support, and replacement CPAP equipment.
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SleepWise is supported with WDHB funding for those eligible or can be accessed privately.
Other services SleepWise can offer include Cardiac Holter Monitoring & 24-hour Blood Pressure Monitoring.
To access the service, you can be referred by your usual Health Practitioner, or you can contact SleepWise directly to arrange an appointment.
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Suite 3/66 Ingestre Street, Whanganui
063479220 or 0275554570
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