Sleep specialist - paediatrician
- Mon. - Fri. 9:00 – 19:00
- Sat., Sun. - CLOSED
- +371 20233582
- info@gkneiroklinika.lv
- Brīvības gatve 410
- (3. floor), Rīga
Sleep specialist - paediatrician
Paediatrician – sleep specialist is specialising in the detection (diagnostics), treatment, prevention and research of infant, child and adolescent sleep disorders.
Sleep is a basic need of human life and having enough sleep is as important as breathing or food. The body grows, develops and rejuvenates during sleep, as well as the brain develops and stores whatever was learnt during the day in memory. The glymphatic system, which serves to remove metabolites from the brain, has been discovered comparatively recently. The clearance of waste usually occurs in sleep. Therefore – if you are short of sleep or your sleep is of poor quality, your well-being and daily functioning is affected to a considerable degree. This applies to children, as well as parents, whose sleep is often affected by their child’s sleep disorders.
Situations, which may require the help of paediatrician – sleep specialist, are as follows:
- drowsiness during the day – difficulty staying awake, regular cases of falling asleep during lectures or classes, afternoon naps,
- insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, frequent awakening at night, waking up too early in the morning,
- sleepwalking, somniloquy, night fear, as well as other night events,
- snoring, respiratory arrest at sleep (obstructive sleep apnoea or other breathing disorders while sleeping),
- unpleasant sensations in the legs, which escalate while at rest (especially – before sleep), but are relieved by movement.
During the visit, the specialist will listen to your complaints, ask questions about your habits and other health problems, as well as they may ask you to fill out self-assessment scales. The objective of the visit is to understand the problem of the patient and to determine the potential diagnosis, as well as, upon the evaluation of complaints and objective findings, to recommend further examinations (for instance, sleep examination or blood tests).
Adjustments of lifestyle, education and various psychotherapy methods play the main role in sleep medicine – especially in children, while medications are used comparatively infrequently. Considering the fact that sleep disorders could be a symptom of other diseases or problems (for instance, depression, anxiety, allergy, adenoids), the patient will be recommended to address the respective specialists.
Some tips on how to prepare for a consultation with a paediatrician – sleep specialist:
- fill out a sleep diary – it helps in understanding your day rhythms, habits and the scope of the problem. Diary helps to gain a better understanding of the correlations and to assess factors that help or interfere with sleep, as well as to follow whether and how the change of habits helps in improving the quality of sleep,
- take the printouts of examinations and tests performed with you, even if they are not directly related to sleep,
- if a child uses some type of medicinal product, record or take a photo of its title and doses,
- if possible, record a video with the events in sleep that are disturbing you (for instance, respiratory arrest).
