Sleep apnia (apnea, apena) treatment
Sleep apnia can be treated in several ways, some more elaborate and mainly suited for severe cases of sleep apnea.
Sleep apnia treatment
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Sleep apnea (apnia, apena) treatment options
Other methods of sleep apnia treatment can be very simple. Arriving at the diagnose of sleep apnea is not easy as the condition so easily can be mistaken for other problems. Once treated properly though, it can help the patient tremendously by removing the chronical fatigue that is so often connected to sleep apena.
Overweight or obesity are major causes of SA and because of this, an indirect but very efficient cure can be to simply loose weight. This will reduce the strain on the body and on the lungs and may allow for a more normal breathing during the night.
Losing weight may not work in all cases but since it is such a simple cure and since it is generally a good idea to lose overweight, it is certainly worth trying first.
Adjustments of the position in which you sleep is also a simple treatment of SA that has some chance of success. Try raising head and neck with extra pillows, this might prevent the blocking of the air way.
If the simple treatments don't work, surgery can be used for the more severe cases of SA.
Tracheostomy
An older method of treating SA is called tracheostomy. This was used up to around 1980 as the only available method. Tracheostomy means bypassing the obstructions in the airways by surgically inserting a tube with a valve in the neck. The valve can be opened which means free airflow, but no speech. So you close the valve during the day and open it night-time. Tracheostomy can still be used today but usually only in emergency cases or very severe cases of SA.Mandibular myotomy
This procedure was originally designed by the doctors Riley and Powell of the Stanford University center for SA. As the name suggests, the procedure affects the lower jaw bone (mandibular) and a muscle is surgically divided (myotomy). The surgery involves the cutting and forward moving (pulling) of a bone piece from the front of the jaw bone where the muscles of the tongue is fixed. This bit is then moved outwards and rotated before put back again. The effect is that the tongue is moved 5-10 mm further forward which usually resolves the obstruction that caused the SA.Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty
Now that is a 5-star name. Maybe it becomes more palatable if you divide it as: uvulo-palato-pharyngoplasty which in short is called UPPP. This procedure removes the uvula (the bit of tissue that hangs in the back of your throat) together with any excess tissue here. It also means surgery of the palate and the pharynx. This type of operation is mainly used where the patient has a problem tolerating CPAP. It seems to help in around 50% of the cases, the remaining half is either not helped at all, or will see some relief only.LAUP - Laser assisted uvuloplasy
The LAUP is a procedure in where the uvula and the surrounding tissue is removed, just as in the above procedure. This has found some use mainly in snoring relief but it has also had some success in the treatment of SA.Somnoplasty
A very new surgical procedure used to treat sleep apena and snoring is called somnoplasty, or RF (radio frequency) procedure. It has recently been approved by the FDA. The method involves using radio frequency waves for the shrinking of excess tissue in the airways which will eliminate snoring. The exact name is RF volumetric Tissue Reduction. There is a similar treatment which is also very new, called RF volumetric reduction of the tongue and this method is used for treating SA. It is based on the use of a special electrode that looks like a needle. This electrode is then used for piercing the tongue and it is connected to a RF wave generator which will heat the tongue tissue. It affects the inner tissue more than the outer so the effect is that the tongue shrinks while the taste bud layer is left unchanged. This method of sleep apnia treatment is very new and it is not always covered in medical insurance as it is still on a research level for treatment of sleep apnea.