In my last post I discussed about snoring and the natural remedies that can be applied to remedy any thing that concerns snoring. I also further stated that there are surgical procedures that can be used to treat snoring which I promised that I was going to write on, on my subsequent articles. Today I am going to write on a surgical procedure use in the treatment of snoring called SOMNOPLASTY.
Before we proceed let us look at some basic procedure or process that leads to snoring. When one breathes in, the air pass through the nose or mouth passes through the tongue , the soft palate, the uvula and the tonsils. During the day time the muscles around the neck and throat stretch to hold firm the uvula and the soft palate in place. But during sleep the uvula vibrates against the soft palates creating snoring sounds, also when there is inflammation or swelling in the uvula it tends to increase the effect of these vibration there by increasing the nature of snore sound.
SOMNOPLASTY is a surgical remedy or treatment for snoring where heat energy in the form of radio frequency ablations is used to alter and the size of abscess on the soft palate. During this process of heating shrinking of the swollen tissues occur there by opening the airways to in turn reduce snoring. It is pertinent to point out that before this procedure is carried out sleep study should be carried out with a special testing equipment to rule out the possibility of having obstructive sleep apnea OSA. When snoring is not because of obstructive sleep Apnea it is known as primary snoring which is the type of snoring that can be easily treated with somnoplasty.
During this procedure it is also good to note that different target tissues are targeted based on the condition been suffered by the patient. For chronic nasal obstruction the turbinate is targeted and heated with radio frequency ablations while for obstructive sleep apnea the base of the tongue is targeted and finally for primary snoring which is our point of reference for today the tonsils are the target points.
SOMNOPLASTY TREATMENT PROCESS
For this process we are going to separate the steps and process into 3 stages
- Before the procedure
- During the procedure
- After the procedure
BEFORE THE SURGERY
One should prepare before the surgery though the surgery does not hurt as reported by most of the people that have undergone this procedure. Clothes that are free and are not that tight are worn this is to allow conductive pads which would be placed on lower back area.
DURING PROCEDURE
Firstly, during the surgery anesthesia is administered at the lower part of the of the mouth in form injection shots below the lips and anesthetic spray on the throat. After this is done a Somnus Gum device with an electrode at the end is placed in the mouth. The electrode end of the device is placed at the upper roof of the mouth the soft palate. The electrode is used to protect the soft palate from burns. Radio frequency are passed through the electrode but in a controlled manner to reduce abscesses in the tissues. Heat is delivered at about 85 degrees Celsius and this to abruptly kill cells around the swellings which is letter restored after some 2 to 3 days. This heat is delivered for about 10 minutes to avoid injuries.
AFTER THE PROCEDURES
After the surgery normally, the patient has swellings and injuries which would persist for 2 to 3 days and later heal out. The snoring might worsen at the early stages of post-surgery due to the swollen part that were heated, and these would gradually fade out. The patient would also notice soar throat which would also subside with time.
BENEFITS OF SOMNOPLASTY
- The procedure does not spread abscesses around and can be said to be minimally invasive
- It does not give much of post-operative uneasiness.
- It is a safe procedure
- It is an office-based surgery and procedure that require common anesthesia
- It is an effective way of treating snoring
- It reduces air way obstruction and improves breathing
POTENTIAL RISKS
There is potential risk associated with the surgery, but this is not to say that the procedure is bad it is just list of reported cases that were seen from the cases handled by experts.
- There is some situation where there are extended pains and swellings which may cause discomfort
- Somnoplasty has been found not be very effective against obstructive sleep apnea as most of the people treated where discovered not be completely cured
- The spouses or relations of 90% of patients treated confirmed that snoring reduced drastically but not completely absent
- Tissue loss may occur due to thermal or electrical burns and this may result to permanent loss
- Even though the treatment has been effective in most cases there are report that after some years the snoring might resurface in few cases.
It is worthy of note that following should be done during the pain period of somnoplasty. Liquid should be taken often to reduce sore throat also in an event where pains persist one should take painkillers like ibuprofen to quench or handle the pains. Worm clear broth or porridges are ideal food for this condition or for recovery from surgery.
When these procedures are followed I am pretty sure that snoring would be a thing of the past in your life.
Having said this I would suggest that other means, by means I mean natural means should be explored in the treatment of snoring before going into drastic measure like somnoplatic surgery. Recently there have been researches that have shown or buttressed that singing and dancing can also help in solving snoring issues.
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The microbiologist turned finance analyst 