snoring is an issue that affects millions of people across the globe. In the United States alone, snoring impacts around 25% to 50% of individuals who either have mild to moderate cases of snoring. Obstructive sleep apnea is another condition of which snoring can be a component, but sleep apnea also consists of brief interruptions of breathing during your sleep.
The reason snoring occurs, for most of us, is due to a floppy soft palate that teeters backwards and forwards and vibrates during the night as you sleep, that is especially troubling for mouth-breathers. For others that have trouble snoring, obstructive sleep apnea may be the culprit or a condition like allergies or an enlarged tongue base. The individuals for whom the primary cause of snoring is the soft palate and its floppiness as they sleep, there are some relatively newer medical treatments that can be just as effective, if not more so, than standard or laser-assisted surgery.
From LAUP to RAUP
A brand new treatment that's basically a twist on the laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty is one that's carried out with radio waves. Radio frequency assisted uvulopalatoplasty, or RAUP, works in a very similar yet different manner than the laser-assisted procedure. With RAUP, the surgeon utilizes thermal energy after you have been given a local anesthetic. The surgeon applies microwave energy to the soft palate through the use of a tiny needle. This procedure essentially generates scar tissue in the soft palate, stiffening it so that it vibrates less as you are sleeping. Since the entire reason for snoring is a soft palate that flaps in the back of the throat, stiffening the palate makes it much less likely that you'll snore.
In contrast to its laser-assisted procedural counterpart, radio frequency assisted RAUP is really less-invasive and carries less procedural risks since people typically do not experience just as much discomfort after the procedure than they generally do with LAUP. Like the laser surgery, however, RAUP for snoring involves several outpatient treatments. Many patients must have up to three or more separate treatments before they'll experience the full benefits of the procedure and be aware that the snoring problem has been corrected. Costs for the RAUP procedure range anywhere from around $1,800 to $2,500, on average.
Palatal Implants
Yet another procedure that may be employed by snoring individuals whose primary concern is their soft palate is palatal implants. This is a different treatment option from either laser-assisted or radio frequency-assisted surgery as no surgeon will be cutting at the rear of your neck. Instead, three small polyester inserts are carefully placed in the rear of the throat after you have undergone a local anesthetic. Additionally, palatal implants are also different because this type of procedure focuses on stabilizing the front of the soft palate directly under the nasal passages rather than the area at the back of the throat, which is where LAUP or RAUP is targeted.
The polyester inserts are essentially put into the soft palate so that they can stiffen it, which has exactly the same end-result as the RAUP procedure. In contrast to surgical options for snoring, palatal implants carry even less of a risk, are relatively simple to insert by the surgeon and the patients who get them are able to return to regular activities shortly after the operation is finished. Additionally, the insertion of palatal implants may also be reversed should significant side effects occur or there is another reason why they need to be taken out. Also unlike surgical procedures, the three palatal implants that a majority of patients require can be placed all at one time instead of requiring multiple visits to an outpatient center or doctor's office. Palatal implants cost from around $1,000 to $2,500, on average.
Snoreplasty Injections
Yet another major option for snoring remedies are snoreplasty injections. This is a more recent snoring treatment option that's so new, as of 2011, that not all physicians may have access to it. Nevertheless, snoreplasty injections use a specific substance called Sotradecol that is made to chemically scar the soft palate tissues in order to stiffen them.
Compared with other new remedies for snoring, snoreplasty injections are even less-invasive and cost considerably less as well. Distributed over around five to six months, the injections cost around $300 each. While Sotradecol may not always be available to your specialist, you will find structurally-similar compounds and injection agents which work similarly and just as well, that is, if you're prepared to forgo the original snoreplasty agent.
Which Treatment is Best?
Whether your snoring problem gets resolved with the placement of palatal implants, with radio frequency-assisted uvulopalatoplasty or snoreplasty injections with a special substance, the treatment option of preference largely depends upon what your medical doctor recommends. Before you have the option to choose any of these new snoring treatments, most doctors would like patients to have a full sleep study so that your issue can be properly and thoroughly evaluated. In some cases, it might be found that you're experiencing sleep apnea symptoms throughout the night instead of simply snoring.
If this is the situation and you really have obstructive sleep apnea, a whole range of other options are usually available and proposed rather than treatments designed to stiffen the soft palate. Actually, a significantly different treatment choice is usually recommended, such as oral appliances and anti snoring masks that can either keep your airway open or force air as you sleep, effectively reducing snoring as well as your sleep apnea symptoms.
After your sleep study, your physician will review the results with you to look for the best course of action to consider. If you're not diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, the options for treating your snoring typically expand and there are a variety of options you can try. Treatment options range from the new treatments that have developed in the last decade to traditional solutions meant to improve the nasal passageways and keep them open. For instance, you can wear snoring mouth guards, anti-snore strips as well as try specialty nasal sprays. Whatever the case, your snoring should be relieved in short order with any of these alternatives that the physician can recommend and discuss.
If you're looking to learn more and help with the problem of snoring, don't hesitate to stop by our website. You will find info about a number of stop snoring alternatives include the use of an anti snore ring. We can help answer the frequently asked question 'do snore rings work'?
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