What Should You Know About Sleep Apnea Surgery

Sleep Apnea Surgery
Surgery is another option to use in order to treat sleep apnea. With the surgical procedure, excess tissue is removed from your nose or your throat. This procedure is only performed in a hospital.

Another option is to shrink or stiffen the excess tissue or the lower jaw can be reset. When the tissue is being shrunk or stiffened, the procedure is usually performed in a doctor’s office or it can be performed in a hospital.

Sleep Apnea Surgery
If the shrinking procedure is performed, you may have to get some shots in the tissue area. If the excess tissue needs to be shrunk more, you may need other treatments besides the shots. Also, the stiffening process includes the physician creating a small cut in the excess tissue and placing a small piece of plastic which is stiff.

During the pre-surgery, you will be administered some medicine that is to make you go to sleep. So, during the surgery, you will be out and not feel anything until you wake up. When the surgery is performed in the hospital, you may experience pain in your throat for approximately 7 to 14 days afterwards.

Sleep Apnea Surgery Here are some surgical options to treat sleep apnea and help you rest better:

· UPPP (Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty) This is a procedure where tissue is taken from the back of your mouth. Tissue is also removed from the top portion of your throat. In addition to removing tissue, your tonsils and adenoids are also removed.

With this surgery, your snoring may stop; however, since there is still tissue further down in your throat, it is unlikely that it will treat or cure your sleep apnea. With the tissue remaining there, your air passage is not open. With UPPP surgery, you will have to go to a hospital to have the surgery.

With this surgery, you will experience a lot of pain. You will be recovering for several weeks. This surgery is only performed on people who are experiencing severe obstructive sleep apnea. Even then, there are only some who undergo this procedure.

This is not one of those surgeries where you can get up and it’s back to business as usual. If you’re able to have the UPPP surgery, you may risk having some complications, including:

· The soft palate and throat muscles may not work properly.

· Your throat may get infected if no antibiotics are given prior to the surgery.

· You may have problems swallowing.

· You may experience fluids coming up through your mouth or your nose.

· You may not be able to smell.

Sleep Apnea Surgery
Having surgery to help you sleep better is not a guarantee. You may still have a recurrence of sleep apnea episodes. Even using CPAP will not be as effective after the surgery. There are some oral surgeries that can be performed:

· A tracheostomy – this surgery is performed if previous treatments did not help you. It is also used if your sleep apnea is severe to the point where it’s a matter of life of death.

From an opening in your neck, a tube made of metal or plastic is inserted and used for you to breathe from. The opening stays covered in the daytime and uncovered at night. You need air to come in and out of your lungs as you sleep.

· Maxillomandibular advancement – This surgical procedure is used to prevent obstruction of your throat by making the space larger where your tongue and soft palate is situated.

The upper and lower portion of your jaw is moved toward the front. This is how the enlargement is created. This procedure is complex, that it may take an oral surgeon and orthodontist to perform it together.

Sleep Apnea Surgery
Surgeons use lasers to get rid of unnecessary tissues in the back of your throat. They can also use radiofrequency energy. Both of these procedures are good to use for treating snoring. Even though they can be use to relieve snoring, they should not be used to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea Surgery
There are additional procedures that are used to relieve snoring. Some of them can help with treating sleep apnea. However, the procedures are not cures for this sleep disorder.

They include:

· Getting rid of enlarged tonsils or adenoids

· Nasal surgery – polyps are removed or a partition positioned between your nostrils is straightened out.

Additional surgical procedures that are used may deal with abnormalities on your face. There are also surgical procedures that deal with additional obstructions. Both of these can cause you to have sleep apnea. The procedures can be performed together or solo.

Sleep Apnea Surgery
Other surgeries include:

· Plastic surgery on the chin

· Tongue advancement – this procedure involves a cut at the intersection of the jawbone and the tongue.

· Hyoid surgery – the bone under the chin that can move is moved toward the front. As it moves, the muscle of the tongue moves with it.

Having surgery to treat apnea is not a guarantee. If depends on what kind of surgery it is and the details of the sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea Surgery
For central and complex sleep apnea, different therapies can be used. Some of them include:

· CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure)

· Medical treatments for heart, neuromuscular issues

· BiPAP (Bilevel Positive Airway Pressure) – this is when higher pressure is used for inhaling. When you exhale, the air pressure gets lower. This helps to strengthen your breathing pattern if you have central sleep apnea. The device can be set to automatic mode if it detects that you haven’t breathed into it after a few seconds.

· ASV (Adaptive servo-ventilation) – This is a new airflow device that gets a feel for how you breathe normally. It keeps your breathing pattern information in a computer.

While you’re sleeping, the ASV works to keep your breathing pattern at a normal rate and get rid of any breathing pauses. If you have central sleep apnea, this method may work better for you than CPAP.