A short history of positional sleep apnea hacks

“Get off your back” is a phrase often heard by those suffering from sleep apnea. There are good reasons for this. In that position, gravity pulls the jaws back into the throat. Airway size is reduced.

Good advice is hard to stick to though, and even harder to stick to while asleep. This can be verified by anyone who has ever gone to bed on their side, only to wake, hours later, on their back. With no idea how they got there, further attempts at side sleeping are bound to relapse.

“Get off your back and stay off your back” would have been more thorough advice. This phrase is rarely spoken aloud. Its acceptance can be seen in the existing hacks that have been devised to manipulate sleep position.

A sock filled with tennis balls is an old favorite. The sock is sown onto the back of a t-shirt. This ridge along the spine tips the sleeper one way or the other. Uncomfortable and narrow, its design was easily improved upon.

Competitors arrived on the scene in the form of commercial products. Some inflated. Others filled with foam. Belts, airbags, straps for the arms and legs. All seek to create enough of a disturbance to alter sleep position. At the same time, they must be comfortable enough to actually wear.

For example, strapping one’s limbs to the side of a bed will prevent rolling over. It will also transform a cozy bedroom into a jail cell. A pouch or cushion at the back of the waist will be more tolerable. It may be so comfortable, however, that a sleeper atop the protrusion faces no incentive to move.

For physical objects, at least, creating both disturbance and comfort comes as a paradox. In recent years, digital options have offered a way forward. Barely larger than a pebble, these inventions accompany the sleeper to bed without much notice. They emit vibrations anytime the user rolls onto their back. Wizardry comes with a price tag, however. These models cost several hundreds of dollars.

Thankfully, most people already own a device capable of similar feats. A smartphone. Smartphones measure rotational changes in mobile games all the time. When placed in a pocket or otherwise fastened, they detect a tilt of the human body in the same way.

Mobile app settings can be tailored to the individual depending upon the severity of their sleep apnea. A mild case calls for prodding only when the user is completely flat on their back. A more severe one will demand intervention before it gets to that point. For instance, an alarm that sounds whenever the sleeper crosses the horizontal plane.

The evolution of these designs has left sleep apnea sufferers with better and better chances of reigning in their condition. Future gains will come as individuals tinker with existing solutions and go beyond. Hopefully they report back on what they find.