Polysomnography: What It Is, How It Works, and What It Reveals About Sleep Disorders
When you can’t sleep—or you sleep too much, or you wake up gasping for air—you might need a polysomnography, a comprehensive overnight sleep test that records brain waves, oxygen levels, heart rate, breathing, and eye and leg movements. Also known as a sleep study, it’s the most accurate way to diagnose what’s really going on when your sleep goes wrong. This isn’t just about counting how many hours you slept. It’s about catching the hidden problems your body can’t tell you about.
Polysomnography doesn’t just look at one thing—it tracks dozens of signals at once. It measures sleep apnea, a condition where breathing stops and starts repeatedly during sleep, often without the person realizing it, by watching for drops in oxygen and pauses in airflow. It spots insomnia, not just as trouble falling asleep, but as abnormal brain activity patterns that keep you from reaching deep, restorative sleep. It even catches restless legs, night terrors, and unusual movements that could point to neurological issues. These aren’t guesses. They’re data—recorded by sensors on your scalp, chest, and legs while you sleep in a lab that’s designed to feel like a hotel room, not a hospital.
Doctors don’t order polysomnography unless they suspect something serious. If you snore loudly, feel exhausted even after eight hours, or your partner says you stop breathing at night, this test can confirm sleep apnea—something that raises your risk of heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure. If you’re tossing and turning every night with no clear reason, it can show whether your brain is stuck in light sleep or if your body is reacting to something like periodic limb movement disorder. It’s not a quick fix, but it’s the only way to get a real diagnosis instead of guessing.
What you’ll find in the posts below is a collection of real-world cases and explanations tied to this test. You’ll see how medications like sedatives or antidepressants can interfere with sleep study results, how older adults are more likely to have undiagnosed sleep disorders, and why some people get misdiagnosed because their symptoms look like anxiety but are actually caused by untreated sleep apnea. There are stories about people who thought they just needed more coffee, until a polysomnography revealed their body was failing them at night. These aren’t theory pieces. They’re practical, lived experiences that show why this test matters—and why ignoring your sleep might cost you more than just a bad day.
