Surgical Options For Snoring

How serious can snoring be, right? Probably to many of us, surgery may seem to be an extreme method to control or cure a person's snore. But when the snoring is negatively impacting a person's life and he has resorted to try all other options, surgery may be the only method that will work for him.

Snoring can cause mountains of problems for people and in some serious cases, it has even been known to break up relationships. Why? The reason being the snorers' partner cannot cope with the incessant lack of sleep due to the snoring by the partner. This in turn causes strain to the relationship and soon enough the accumulation of such frustrations may erupt thus causing breakups. This is only one of the problems and other problems may include health issues and cause sleeping disorders.

There is a number of medical surgeries offered to cure or stop snoring which can be very effective. Here we will discuss the common four :

Tracheostomy or Tracheotomy
This surgical procedure makes an opening in the neck through to the trachea or windpipe through which an indwelling tube may be inserted. This is very distressing for the patient who needs to be reassured that the tube is open and that sufficient air can pass through. Not only that, the tube needs to be suctioned frequently to keep it free from mucous and other secretions. It can be a very frightening experience to undergo a tracheotomy.

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty or UPPP
This is a surgical procedure that involves the removal of palatal and oropharyngeal tissue that may be causing an obstruction to the airway. It is this obstruction to the airway that causessnoring in the first place so with the obstruction gone, the snoring should be cured too.

Laser Assisted Uvuloplasty
This procedure, as its name suggests, makes use of lasers to remove the uvula and any tissue causing an obstruction to the airway, without affecting the tonsils or other lateral tissue.

Cautery Assisted Palatal Stiffening
In this surgical procedure, the palate is deliberately burned or cauterized, often by laser, in order to stiffen it to prevent vibration. The uvula and mucosa are often also removed. This is reported to be the most painful of all of the surgical procedures with a lengthy recovery period.

So which method should you go for? It all depends on your condition. You must consult with your doctor to explore which of these procedures give you the highest chance to cure yoursnoring.

It is important though that surgery should always be the last option to be considered after all other options have been explored thoroughly. Bottomline is that surgery afterall still carries a certain element of risk and it should only be undertaken if the doctor advises so.