Snoring Surgery - CPAP

The Different Types Of Snoring Surgery

Snoring surgery is a relatively new medical procedure that has several different variants. The goal of snoring surgery is to eliminate or at least improve the medical and social (your partner's inability to sleep because of your snoring) consequences of heavy snoring. Don't expect this to be covered by your insurance policy because they regard this as a cosmetic procedure, not a live-saving one, although it should be, in case the patient is unable to breath properly when sleeping. This article outlines the different types of snoring surgery.

The first one is Laser-Assisted Uvulopalatoplasty, shortly known as LAUP. During this procedure, a carbon dioxide laser is used to vaporize part of the uvula. The patient is sedated and seated upright in a chair so that the doctor can have access to the area mentioned. The entire procedure only takes about an hour, but it's done as a series of three to five individual treatments and additional treatment sessions might also be required. A side effect ot this snoring surgery is that the patient feels serious pain for about half a month afterwards. And also, the outcome of the procedure, whether it's successful or not, largely depends on the surgeon's ability and experience.

Somnoplasty is another type of snoring surgery, relatively new type of procedure in which the surgeon uses a thin needle connected to a source of radiofrequency signals to shrink the tissues in the soft palate, throat, or tongue. Good news is that this snoring surgery was officially approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of snoring in 1997. Most patients reports that snoring is seriously improved after just one treatment, although some of them require a second, but that's rare. This snoring surgery is done in about 30 minutes and is performed under local anesthesia. Compared to LAUP, somnoplasty has a higher success rate (85%) and it's less painful.

Tongue Suspension Procedure is also a snoring surgery and it's goal is to stabilizes the base of the tongue during sleep which prevents it from falling backwards and obstructing the airway. It was approved by the FDA in 1998. During this procedure, the patient is under total anesthesia. Takes about 20 minutes to complete. Advantage is that it's reversible, since no incision is made and it can be combined with the previously mentioned snoring surgeries.

Injection Snoreplasty is a snoring surgery is safe, has higher rate of success than LAUP with nearly 92% and it's also less painful. Costs about $500 per treatment and most patients require only one.