How to Stop Snoring?

Is Surgery to stop snoring a good idea? Let's find out.

One of the nicest things about living in the 21st century is the amount of surgical options available. No one would question the fact that countless lives have been saved, or inestimably improved, as a result of surgery. 

But is surgery the best option to stop snoring?  We live in a world that is, for all intents and purposes, addicted to surgery.  It has become the first option - and in some cases, the only option - that both doctors and patients consider when trying to remedy a problem. 

And since many (enhanced) medical insurance plans cover many types of surgery - all it needs is a doctor's okay - it's not uncommon to come across people who have had a litany of surgeries over the past few years.  They might even know the surgeons by name, and have a favorite parking spot at the hospital.

Surgery to Stop Snoring Is A Bad Idea.

It is in light of all this is that we look at surgery to stop snoring.  In a nutshell: the two don't mix; and this is a bit of a problem to people who are persuaded by medical doctors (or by surgery-addicted colleagues, friends, and relatives) to go under the knife to get rid of that "pesky snoring problem".  These people may be well intentioned, but they don't have all of the facts about surgery as an option to stop snoring.

One of the things that they probably don't know is that surgery is not an exact science.  It may look that way, especially when one sees the army of hi-tech equipment that clogs many operating rooms and makes one think that they're at NASA Mission Control instead of a local hospital.

Surgery Is Exploratory!

However, and even surgeons will readily admit this, surgery is, always has been, and always will be, somewhat exploratory and risky. Trying to stop snoring using surgery is also a risky option.

True, some surgerical procedures are better known and more straightforward than others, and the chance of a successful outcome for, say, a quick knee operation might be radically more predictable than a kidney transplant.  But the bottom line is that both of these procedures are surgical, which means that they both have risks. Surgery to stop snoring problems at best lessens the impact of certain causative factors.

This, indeed, is something of a wake-up call for people who have equated surgery with certainty. 

Snoring Surgery is not Always Successful

So how does this relate to snoring? Certain procedures are a bit more tried and tested than others. Surgery designed to stop, mitigate, or treat snoring has been less than successful for many people. 

Why is this the case?  Surgery to treat snoring is designed, ultimately, to increase the airflow in the trachea; and the most common surgical way to do this is to cut away some of the tissue that is clogging up that passageway.  Is this a wise choice in order to stop snoring in patients? 

Possibly, yes, for some snorers this can be a remedy; but not for all, and certainly not for most.  This is because the problem of snoring is often much deeper than a constricted trachea. 

Yes, as we discussed in another article, that is how snoring manifests itself as sound: air from the lungs vibrates in the airflow.  Yet for many people, this is not the ultimate cause of snoring; that cause, like many medical ailments, is often something of a mystery, and can change significantly from person to person.

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