What Is The Best Cure For Snoring
If you or someone close to you snores there are many therapies and devices to choose from when looking for the best cure for snoring. There are snoring mouth guards, nasal devices and dilators, snoring chin straps, anti-snoring pillows, exercise therapies, and even hypnosis.
It is important to eliminate the potentially dangerous condition of sleep apnea before trying any stop snoring therapies. Sleep apnea must be diagnosed by a a doctor or by attending a sleep laboratory or clinic.
It is also necessary to take care of any underlying health concerns that may have a bearing on your snoring.
A further option available to a person who is a heavy snorer is to undergo surgery. Under some circumstances this can be the best cure for snoring and although the results may often prove to be disappointing there are several different types of surgery that can be performed.
Palatopharyngoplasty, also simply referred to as PPP is surgery that is performed to enlarge the airway at the back of the throat. The operation can include removal of tonsils and adenoids, shortening a long uvula and partial removal of the soft palate. This is designed to increase the airflow and reduce the amount of vibratory tissue in the throat.
This procedure may only be a temporary method of ending snoring. Some research studies suggest that within two years only forty percent of snorers that have undergone this surgery continue to report having their snoring stopped or definitely lessened.
A less expensive alternative to palatopharyngoplasty is laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty – or LAUP – that employs laser technology to shorten the uvula as well as vaporize parts of the soft palate. Uvulopalatoplasty can be performed under local anesthetic unlike palatopharyngoplasty, which must be performed under general anesthetic.
The effectiveness of LAUP may be marginally better than PPP although many patients have reported that snoring returned within two years or so after surgery, though there are also studies that show marked improvement in the patient’s snoring.
A third type of surgery is cautery-assisted uvulopalatoplasty whereby the surgeon uses cauterizing equipment in lieu of a laser and a heated wire or electrode is used to burn or scar most or all of the uvula and palate. The effectiveness of this treatment is similar to that of other surgical procedure for snoring and this operation is easy to carry out and is possibly less painful.
It should be noted, however, that most patients report severe post operative pain with any of these surgical procedures so surgery may not be the best cure for snoring.
