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Is your partner Snoring troubling your sleep?
What is Snoring and how did snoring happens?
Snoring is a common term for the acoustic effect that occurs in some individuals during sleep.
It is a result of the vibration of flaccid tissues, mainly of the soft palate, the uvula, palatine arches, and partially collapsed pharyngeal walls. The vibration of these tissues is caused by the stream of air passing through the airways.
Introduction
Snoring affects about 50% of males and 30% of females in the general population. Snoring is both a medical and social problem. In most families, it is an important problem causing a disturbance at night, often being the cause of sleeping in separate beds, and in extreme cases, even the cause of divorce or renouncement of marriage.
Apart from excessive daytime sleepiness, snoring is the basic symptom of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome. Due to the severity of possible complications associated with OSA syndrome, snoring itself seems to be alarming for patients and their environment that should prompt these patients to undergo diagnosis and treatment. The most common reason for seeking help is due to the fact that snoring is not accepted in the society
Treatment of snoring and OSA syndrome includes:
Fotona Non Ablative Erbium YAG Laser (NightLase®)
Preventive management (body-weight reduction, avoidance of alcohol, sedative and hypnotic drugs at late hours, proper body position during sleep)
Conservative treatment (positive airway pressure)
Surgery (palatopharyngoplasty with partial uvulectomy, uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP))
Intrapalatal techniques (radiosurgery, Pillar procedure, injection snoreplasty)
How Does Fotona Erbium: Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Er:YAG) Laser (NightLase® treatment) Helps in Snoring?
All the above surgical procedures are associated with the need for (local or general) anesthesia and the possibility of complications and pain in the postoperative period.
The Fotona non-ablative Erbium: Yttrium Aluminum Garnet (Er:YAG) laser does not require anesthesia and is not associated with pain.
The Er:YAG laser emits infrared radiation with a wavelength of 2940 nm. Energy absorbed by the tissues of the oropharynx results in shrinkage of collagen fibers due to the photothermal effect and initiates neocollagenesis after 2–3 months which leads to an attenuation of the sound of the patients snoring and a lessening of the effects of sleep apnea.
A full course of NightLase® treatment is comprised of three separate treatment sessions over a six week period. The final result of the treatment has been shown to last up to a year. When the patients or their loved ones notice the effects erroding, another round of treatment can be performed.