Stop Snoring Information

4 Surgical Procedures That Stop Snoring

November 28th, 2007 | by snory |

Sometimes the natural methods just don’t work and the mouth guards and other devices just won’t do the job when it comes to stopping snoring. Because of this people are turning to surgery more than ever.

Before surgery a surgeon requires the patient to perform a sleep nasendoscopy to inspect the patient’s upper air passage so they can tell just how bad the air passage blockage is. Unfortunately this process is rather costly so many patients opt to skip this step.

There are 4 primary surgical procedures used in the treatment of snoring:

• Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty or UPPP

• Laser-assisted Uvuloplatoplasty or LAUP

• Palatal Stiffening Operations or CAPSO

• Radio-frequency Ablation or Somnoplasty

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty or UPPP involves removing the uvula or more commonly called the palate and sometimes the tonsils. The snorer is put under general anesthetic. The main thing that turns people off from this procedure is that large amount of pain involved post-op. Other side effects include dry mouth, loss of taste and change of voice.

Laser-assisted Uvuloplatoplasty or LAUP is not only cheaper than UPPP but is also considered to be more safe. This procedure is less painfull than UPPP, but it requires multiple sessions. Other than pain there are no other unwanted side effects associated with this surgery.

Palatal Stiffening Operations or CAPSO causes the least amount of complications compared to the other three possible surgical procedures. This procedure involves sends a electrical cautery into the soft palate causing it to stiffen up. This treatment is fairly painful however. Palatal Stiffening Operations are performed under local anesthesia in almost all cases. And best of all it only requires a one time outpatient trip to the hospital.

Radio-frequency Ablation or Somnoplasty is used to shrink the soft palate tissue of the snorer. The surgical procedure is by far the least invasive of the 4 procedures. The surgeon will heat the inner tissue of the soft palate, which causes scars to form underneath the skin of the soft palate. This procedure takes less than a half hour to complete. However, it does require you to return for multiple sessions.

So how do you decide which surgical procedure is the right one for you? Thats simple. Ask your doctor!