Heavy Snorer? Implants Could Help.
February 1st, 2008 | by snory |
Sometimes no matter what you do or what devices you use, the snoring just doesn’t go away. There are a few differnt surgical procedures that you can have performed that can stop snoring. The one we’ll be talking about today is the pillar palatal implant system, because of its growing popularity among snorers and those suffering from sleep apnea.
The pillar palatal implant system, patented by the Restore Medical Company of St. Paul, is a fairly new treatment thats only been tested on a little more than 10,000 people in the US, Europe, and China. This new treatment has been getting a lot of attention form the media due to its low cost and because it causes very little pain compared to other popular snoring surgeries.
The implant is placed in the back of the throat and stops the palate from vibrating so heavily. The entire procedure takes less than an hour and has been shown to be more effective than most other similar surgeries. However the long term effect are still unknown and many insurance policies don’t cover this multi-thousand dollar procedure.
While other procedure require the cutting and removal of flesh and bone, the pillar palatal implant system does not. Unlike many popular procedures this system isn’t going to to keep you out of work for multiple weeks and doesn’t leave the patient with any long lasting pain. The procedure does take up to 5 weeks for it to reach its maximum effectiveness.
However, this procedure is still very much so in the experimental stages despite its approval by the Food and Drug Administration. The pillar palatal implant system was only approved 5 years ago for snoring, and was only recently approved as an effective way to treat sleep apnea.
Despite its growing popularity, the results vary greatly. Some people stop snoring all together, while others notice hardly any difference at all.
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