Best Cure For Snoring - Exploring The Options
If you’re a snorer there are many devices and therapies 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.
Before trying any stop snoring therapies it is important to eliminate the possibility of the potentially dangerous condition of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be diagnosed by a a doctor or, more commonly, by 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 shortening an elongated uvula, partial removal of the soft palate and removal of tonsils and adenoids. 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. According to research studies, within two years only fifty percent of the patients that have undergone this surgery report having their snoring stopped or markedly improved.
A less expensive and equally effective alternative to palatopharyngoplasty is laser-assisted uvulopalatoplasty (LAUP) that uses a laser technique to shorten the uvula as well as scar parts of the tissue of the soft palate. Uvulopalatoplasty can be performed under local anesthetic unlike palatopharyngoplasty, which must be performed under general anesthetic.
LAUP’s effectiveness may be slightly better than PPP although many patients have reported that snoring returned within two years or so after surgery, although some studies have shown a decided improvement in the patient’s snoring.
A third type of surgery is cautery-assisted uvulopalatoplasty in which the surgeon uses a heated wire or electrode instead of a laser to burn or scar some or all of the uvula and palate. The success of this form of treatment is similar to other surgical operations to reduce snoring and this procedure is easy to perform and may be less painful than other treatments.
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.