Surgery the last resort

Surgical procedures are non-reversible and often present unanticipated consequences. Not only is surgery time consuming and costly, but results are not always guaranteed. Yet with proper diagnosis and in the hands a careful surgeon treatment may give the desired results to stop snoring. You must first consider the cause of the snoring problem which is the vibration of loose floppy tissues during the deep breathing process while sleeping. The comparison would be wind blowing through a window shade. If the window shade is loose and floppy, there will be considerable noise as the wind blows through the window. The more wind causes more noise. But if the window shade is very tight there will be little or no noise. Most snoring surgery is directed at stiffening the loose flabby tissues at the back of the throat. Other types of surgery which may help snoring and sleep apnea include nasal surgery to open up the nasal airway and a tongue advancement procedure where the attachment of the tongue is moved forward to the base of the lower jawbone.

There are four types of surgeries which are currently being used to correct the floppy tissues in the back of the throat which lead to snoring.

1. Pillar procedure
This is a relatively new surgical procedure to stop snoring. In this surgery three ceramic type implants are inserted into the soft palate which effectively stiffens the palate to prevent snoring vibration. This snoring surgery can be helpful, if the noise is caused by palatal vibration.

2. Laser surgery
The surgical laser is used to trim away suspected vibrating tissue and the success rate is reported to be over 80%. However, there is often considerable pain and sometimes postoperative permanent difficulty with swallowing and voice change and for some the snoring is still present.

3. Somnoplasty
In this surgical procedure radio frequency waves are used to create scarring in the soft palate and uvula. The scarring is reported to stiffen the tissues at the back of the throat resulting in less snoring. This procedure often requires re-treatment and has other postoperative side effects similar to the laser.

4. Injection Snoreplasty
In this surgery the soft palate and uvula are stiffened by the injection of a chemical compound, Sotradecol, which causes scarring and stiffening. Multiple procedures are required over period of 6 to 8 weeks to obtain proper scarring resulting in snoring improvement.

The benefit of a snoring mouthpiece or sleep apnea mouthpiece
During sleep the tongue normally drops back over the upper airway. A greater force of the air is required to overcome this obstruction. Most people seem to breathe louder while they are sleeping as compared to being awake. For many people this is not a problem but for those with floppy tissues the result is snoring.

The snoring mouthpiece works differently from the surgical procedures. Most surgical snoring procedures involve removing or altering the vibrating throat tissues.The snoring mouthpiece works by moving the tongue forward in the mouth which opens the airway in the back of the throat. This forward movement of the tongue reduces the wind speed or the force of air while sleeping. This reduced air speed reduces or stops snoring. As in the earlier comparison, in a gentle breeze the window shade will not flap and make noise. So if the tongue is moved away from the airway entrance, there is less snoring. Nasal surgery and the tongue advancement surgery also reduce the force of air while sleeping.

The snoring mouthpiece typically comes in two types.

1. Mandibular advancement device
For this type of snoring mouthpiece the jaw is moved forward during sleep which also advances the tongue away from the airway in the back of the throat which helps treat the snoring. Some boil and bite user fitted examples of this type of mouthpiece available over the Internet are the Sleep PRO and the QuietNite Z.

2. Tongue stabilizing device
The tongue stabilizing device incorporates the use of a bulb suction retainer which gently holds the tongue forward during sleep. This is especially helpful for persons with jaw joint problems or those who do not have a full complement of healthy teeth. The Aveo TSD and the Mpow Rx are examples of tongue stabilizing devices used to treat snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.

Surgery to stop snoring typically reduces vibration of tissues during the deep breathing of sleeping. Problems associated with snoring surgery typically included snoring relapse, pain, cost, swallowing problems, voice change, recovery period and time loss. Snoring surgery may be particularly helpful for cases of severe snoring and obstructive sleep apnea. 

Snoring mouthpieces require an adjustment period and jaw discomfort is reported by some. However, the problems are few and usually temporary. A snoring mouthpiece should be tried for snoring as a first treatment option prior to surgery. User fitted snoring mouthpieces are available over the internet and custom fitted snoring mouthpieces are available from your dentist or as custom self fitted snoring mouthpieces over the internet.