Coblation treatment for snoring

What causes snoring?

Snoring affects millions of people, and is not just affecting the people who are sleeping in the same room with snorer, but also a snorer itself! Habitual snorers can be at risk for serious health problems. Obstructive sleep apnea is an illness that is often associated with chronic snoring, and is characterized by long interruptions of breathing during sleep that are caused by partial or total obstruction or blockage of the airway. Prolonged suffering from obstructed sleep apnea will result in higher blood pressure and may cause enlargement of the heart, with higher risks of heart attack and stroke. Furthermore, it has recently been suggested that simple snoring, even without concomitant obstructive sleep apnea, may be harmful in and of itself causing carotid artery atherosclerosis.

The cause of snoring is the physical obstruction of the flow of air through the mouth and nose. The walls of the throat vibrate during breathing, resulting in the distinctive sounds of snoring. Air flow can be obstructed by a combination of factors, including: obstructed nasal airways, poor muscle tone in the throat and tongue, bulky throat tissue, and long soft palate and/or uvula (the dangling tissue in back of the mouth) – one of the most common causes of snoring.

Coblation Treatments of Uvula and Soft Palate

If the cause of your snoring is long soft palate and/or uvula, you may be helped by coblation treatment. Coblation treatment works by inserting a needle like probe into the soft palate and heating it with radiofrequency waves, performing "debulking" which will result in overall reduction in the size and thickness of the soft palate and even the uvula. Over a 6-week period, shrinkage and moderate scarring will occur in treated areas, which will stiffen the palate making it less prone to vibration thereby reducing a person's snore.

Procedure is performed in the office under local anesthesia, and immediately thereafter you can go home! You will be seated, the back of your mouth will be numbed up with a local anesthetic, and a small injection of the soft palate with lidocaine will be performed. After 10 minutes to allow adequate anesthetic effect, a coblation probe will be inserted, and your soft palate will be treated on different spots for about 10 seconds. And this is it! Couple of days thereafter you may feel some pain in your mouth (similar to when you burn your mouth with the hot soup), which can easily be treated with painkillers. Also, you should gently rinse your mouth with saline after every meal for about 1 week to help keep the wound area clean.

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