Frequently Asked Questions

Inspire works inside your body with your natural breathing process to treat obstructive sleep apnea. While you sleep, Inspire delivers mild stimulation to key airway muscles, allowing the airway to remain open. The Inspire system is controlled by a small handheld sleep remote. You turn Inspire on before bed and off in the morning when you wake up.

Inspire is reimbursed by most major insurance providers, Medicare and VA insurance plans either as a covered policy or approved on an individual basis. Your doctor and the insurance team at Inspire will work with you for approval.

You should feel a mild sensation from the stimulation when the therapy is turned on. Typically, patients feel a tingling sensation or mild contraction in their tongue muscles. Then, stimulation is delayed for a period of time while you fall asleep. After this start delay, stimulation resumes. The stimulation is gentle and designed to move the tongue forward without disturbing your sleep.

Yes. A range of stimulation will be programmed by your doctor, and the Inspire sleep remote allows you to adjust the strength of stimulation. The stimulation should not be painful or uncomfortable. Stimulation strength can be adjusted so that therapy is comfortable and effective.

You should expect some pain and swelling at the incision sites for a few days after the implant. Based on your recovery, you may be able to go home the same day you have the surgery, or your doctor may want to keep you overnight.

Within a few days following the procedure, you should be able to return to normal, non-strenuous activities. You should avoid strenuous activities for about two weeks, or as directed by your doctor. A week after surgery, your doctor will examine you to make sure you are healing properly.

Generally, no. However, you should ask your doctor about any activities that are particularly strenuous (e.g., weightlifting) or that entail a large or unpredictable range of motion of your upper body and/or arms (e.g., working as a firefighter).

It is possible to safely remove Inspire through a surgical procedure when medically necessary. However, this is rare and not recommended in most situations.

You will need at least one sleep study so your doctor can fine-tune your therapy settings. Your doctor may need additional sleep studies to monitor and adjust your therapy settings.

Your doctor can print out a usage record of Inspire to show the medical examiner that you are using your prescribed sleep apnea treatment. By proving compliance, there should be no issues renewing your commercial driver's license.

It is safe to go through security screening devices with Inspire. It is possible that Inspire would set off the metal detector, so you should let security personnel know that you have an implanted stimulator and carry your Inspire Identification Card for verification.

The battery in Inspire is designed to last for approximately 11 years. Once it is running low, it is replaced during a short outpatient procedure.

The first four to six weeks after the procedure, the system remains off to allow you to heal. You’ll then have an appointment to have the system programmed with initial settings, receive the remote for your device and learn how to use it.

You will then begin using Inspire every night, slowly increasing the amplitude until you reach the point where you are having comfortable restful sleep.

After you've gotten used to using the device at home for about 12 weeks, you will have an overnight sleep study. At that time, the technician will observe your sleeping and fine-tune the device to the best possible way to treat your sleep apnea.

The visibility of the scars will depend on your skin tone and individual healing process.