Undergoing Snoring Surgery to Fix the Problem
Medically, the dangerous type of snoring is termed as ‘Obstructive Sleep Apnea’ and it is caused due to the collapse of loose tissue in the mouth, blocking the airway. During the process of breathing, as the air tries to force itself out, it causes vibration of the tissues which generate the noise associated with snoring.
How does snoring surgery help?
Surgery can provide a lot of snoring remedies by either getting the loose tissue from the back of the throat removed, surgically reshaping the jaw or altering the position of the tonsil so that it does not block the air path .
Does health insurance cover snoring surgery?
Most health insurance companies regard surgery for treatment of snoring as a cosmetic surgery and hence do not cover them. However, if a surgery is performed in such a way that the nasal passage is altered to improve a person’s breathing, then it can be categorized as a medical surgery which is covered under most health insurance policies.
What is Somnoplasty?
Somnoplasty is one of the surgical methods of altering the size of tissues inside one’s mouth to reduce the intensity of snoring or totally eradicating the problem by stopping it. What it basically does is, it uses a needle of a source frequency to reduce the size of the tissue that causes the vibration that leads to snoring. This tissue can be near the throat, jaw or in the tongue itself. It was approved by the Food and Drugs Association (FDA) in late 1997 as a viable option for the treatment of snoring.
Why is Somnoplasty recommended over other kinds of surgery?
Surgical methods to tackle snoring have been incorporated in medical science since the early nineties. The methods that were used back then are today considered to be highly invasive and risk prone. Most of these methods included the total removal of tonsils or other tissues and they came up with the risk of further complications like internal bleeding, speech impediments, etc. Somnoplasty is one of the least invasive of all snoring surgery methods. Unlike the ones used earlier, it does not take a long time for a patient to recover and the entire process can be wrapped up in a day.
The main thing to remember while looking at options for the treatment for snoring is to analyze the critical and unfavorable sides of the situation. If one suffers from occasional or mild snoring, then surgery can be overlooked in favor of using oral devices but if heavy snoring persists, a snoring surgery might be the best way out.
