Snoring (somnoplasty)

Ear Nose | Otorhinolaryngology | Snoring (somnoplasty) (Disease)


Description

The procedure called somnoplasty involves removing barriers to the airways. Snoring is a problem not only for patients partner, but for their own health.

Lifestyle changes, weight loss, quitting smoking, and alcohol or even surgery are some of the methods available to people with noisy sleep. Snoring is often a consequence of the occurrence of apnea, a condition characterized by respiratory repeated breathing pauses.

Causes and risk factors

While we are breathing, air flows in and out in a steady stream from our nose or mouth to our lungs. When we are asleep, the area at the back of the throat sometimes narrows. The same amount of air passing through this smaller opening can cause the tissues surrounding the opening to vibrate, which in turn can cause the sounds of snoring. It may be associated with serious diseases such as hypertension, stroke or myocardial infarction.

Diagnosis and Treatment

To establish the type of treatment to be applied to a patient who snores, is needed primarily a graphia of the sleep, which consists of monitoring the patients sleep at night. This is also followed by an ENT control, to detect if there are local causes of snoring occurrence. Eating before bedtime should be eliminated. During the monitoring patients are followed both brain activity and oxygen levels in the bloodstream or involuntary leg movements.

People who snore should lose weight, give up alcohol and tobacco and at least seven hours sleep per night. Also be removed before bedtime feeding. Another noteworthy aspect is not getting comfort during sleep: mattresses should be comfortable and air temperature to be about 21 degrees Celsius. silence and darkness of the room are also important. If these solutions prove ineffective, sleep disorders specialists suggest using special fans to keep airways open, and mouth of a prosthesis, applied only at night. Prosthesis will push in front jaw and allow normal breathing.

Surgery is another option, when snoring becomes unbearable. The method consists in removing a portion of the palate. The recent technique is called somnoplasty. It requires laser surgery to remove obstacles from the airways. Period of recovery after such surgery is two to three weeks. Somnoplasty can be done in specialized clinics, equipped with latest equipment. ...