Sleep Disorder - Snoring Fatigue. Sleep Problems and Nightmares

During normal breathing, air passes through the throat on its way to the  lungs. The air travels past the soft palate, uvula, tonsils, and tongue. When a  person is awake, the muscles in the back of the throat tighten to hold these  structures in place preventing them from collapsing and/or vibrating in the  airway. During sleep, the uvula and soft palate frequently vibrate causing the  distinctive sounds of snoring.

The LAUP procedure is a laser surgical procedure designed to sequentially  trim and shorten these structures, thus preventing or reducing snoring.

Risks and Complications

You have the right to be informed that the surgery may involve risks of  unsuccessful results, complications, or injury from both known and unforeseen  causes. Because individuals vary in their tissue circulation and healing  processes, as well as anesthetic reactions, ultimately there can be no guarantee  made as to the results or potential complications. The following complications  have been reported in the medical literature. This list is not meant to be  inclusive of every possible complication. They are listed here for your  information only, not to frighten you, but to make you aware and more  knowledgeable concerning this surgical procedure.

Sleep disorder caused by sleep apnea.

In general, surgery for sleep apnea is only about 50% successful. However, you would need to talk with your surgeon regarding your specific situation. Surgery is usually recommended only after medical therapy has failed. If your main concern is the snoring, then either the laser procedure or the new Somnoplasty carries about an 85% success rate for resolution of the snoring.

Snoring sleep apnea help.

Sleep apnea is when someone involuntarily does not breath during sleep. It  can be either central or obstructive. Central apnea, which is less common, is  when the brain forgets to tell the body to breath. Obstructive apnea occurs when  the muscles or soft tissue in the throat prevents the normal movement of air.  The signs of obstructive sleep apnea include severe snoring, breath holding,  fatigue, and morning headache.

Sleep apnea must be diagnosed by a sleep study. A sleep study measures the  heart rate, breathing patterns, and brain waves of the patient while they sleep.  It is absolutely essential that this study be done on anyone suspected of having  sleep apnea.

Large tonsils and snoring.

Large tonsils, or hypertrophic tonsils, can frequently cause severe snoring, breathing holding, difficulty eating, choaking, and sleep apnea. This can occur as an isolated event or in conjunction with recurrent tonsillitis. If the problem becomes severe, tonsillectomy with adenoidectomy is often recommended.

Obstructive sleep apnea tonsils.

Obstructive sleep apnea in normal children is almost always caused by  enlarged (hypertrophic) tonsils and adenoids). These children will display the  typical sleeping patterns of sleep apnea. They have loud snoring, frequent  pauses with breathing at night, frequent awakening from sleep, restless sleep,  nightmares, and bedwetting (enuresis). During the daytime, these children are  mouth breathers, may have excessive daytime sleepiness, and poor school  performance.

Chronic Snoring Medication

During normal breathing, air passes through the throat on its way to the  lungs. The air travels past the soft palate, uvula, tonsils, and tongue. When a  person is awake, the muscles in the back of the throat tighten to hold these  structures in place preventing them from collapsing into the airway. During  sleep, these structures can fall into the airway causing snoring and obstructive  sleep apnea.

Sleep apnea is characterized by loud snroing and distrubed or interruped  sleep patterns. Sleep apnea can have serious consequences including cardiac  problems. Frequently patients will awaken in the morning with a headache. If  they become sleep deprived they may feel sleeppy all day, and may fall asleep  while driving in the car.