Discover How To Stop Snoring

Surgery to Stop Snoring

June 11th, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

Did you know that snoring, aside from being a nuisance to your bed partner, can also be the result of many serious health conditions? Of course snoring is not an uncommon condition, it is estimated that 59% of adults snore more than 3 times a week!

There many ways to get rid of your snoring problem now days. Some are effective some aren’t. For many people a simple life change can help reduce the severity of their problem, for other stop-snoring products is the way to go. But if you are amongst the people that have tried these methods with little or no success then perhaps you need Surgery to stop snoring.

You might benefit from surgery to stop snoring. There are three main types of surgery to stop snoring: Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), Radio-Frequency Ablation (Somnoplasty) and Palatal Stiffening (CAPSO).

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP)

The first type of surgery to stop snoring is Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP). The goal of this surgical procedure is to increase the width of the oropharynx. When UPPP is performed, the uvula and pharyngeal arches are removed, as are part of the soft palette and, on occasion, the tonsils. It is performed under a general anesthetic and is known for the potential to cause long-term complications, such as severe pain after operation, nasopharyngeal regurgitation, a partial loss of taste, permanent voice changes, and palatal dryness.

Short and Sweet: Somnoplasty or Radio-Frequency Ablation

Somnoplasty is another type of surgery to stop snoring, and it aims to shrink the redundant tissue of the soft palette and can be performed in a mere 20 minutes. During the procedure, the inner tissue is heated to 85 degrees Celsius, which could cause the tissue to scar. However, these scars have little or no effect on the surrounding tissues. Somnoplasty is performed under a general anesthesia, and it does not have as many complications as other procedures. However, it is still a relatively new procedure and many people have found its success rate to be lower than that of other procedures, especially in obese people.

Palatal Stiffening

Palatal Stiffening is another type or surgery to stop snoring. This procedure is not very complicated and can be performed in a minor outpatient procedure. The procedure is simple and is accomplished by burning the throat tissue in order to stiffen it. The results are similar than the ones obtained with Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP), the only difference is the post-surgical pain. Another factor about this surgery to stop snoring is that it can be repeated until the desired effect is obtained.