Posted by Captin Cannuck on April 30, 2008 at 15:30:10:In Reply to: Had U3P, tongue adv, Hyoid next?? posted by Illuvatar on April 29, 2008 at 20:12:06:
The salvage procedure for a failed UPPP surgery is MMA. The "yo-yo" phenomenon where people who have had UPPP initially get better and then lose the gains they made or eve get worse after 8 to 12 months is caused by scar tissue formation. It takes time for scar tissue to set in. People who have UPPPs end up with a palate that is shorter and thicker. Their pharnyx undergoes gradual changes which result in a reduced air space and being even more prone to collapse. If you have time, there is a good explanation with sources in Wikipedia on UPPP yo-yo phenomenon. Among others, I remember reading a good link from that article in Wikipedia to work done by an Israeli doctor and researcher on this.
Let me ask you a question: Has the sound of your snoring changed in pitch? That is what I noticed. My brother shared a hotel with me. He has known me all my life, and he heard me snoring after LAUP. He said that I snored just as loud, but that now I had a higher pitch. Why is that? That is like when you tune a guitar. As the tension increases, the pitch becomes higher. Scar tissue is pulling your pharnyx tighter and tighter. Not long after my brother made the observation that the pitch of my snoring got higher, I began to wake up gasping for breath. I went into the doctor and he found that my blood pressure was way high. I did not have sleep apnea before that. I had LAUP for social snoring. I actually developed sleep apnea due to LAUP (LAUP is a kind of UPPP done with a laser instead of a scalpel).
I can tell you what you will need to do. I have already looked into it and done it. The salvage for failed UPPP is MMA. MMA works in the oposite way. It actually enlarges the airway. MMA addresses the entire airway. It has been found that sleep apnea usually is caused because people have multiple locations along the airway where they obstruct (and it has been found that the base of the tongue is usually involved). UPPP does not address this reality. The good news is that MMA lasts for a long duration of time. People have retained their positive gains with MMAs after 5-10 yrs. It has a high rate of success (about 80-90 percent for UPPP salvage).
As for the pain of a broken jaw, do not fear it. It is not so bad. They give you lots of medication. The first night you will feel rotten, but it is not unbearable.
The good news is that MMA works. It will likely improve your situation very much. When I saw Dr. K.L. after my botched LAUP, I had had some doctors suggest re-doing my UPPP or giving me other soft tissue work like RF etc. When I told Dr. L. about that, he told me strongly that "you DONT let ANYONE touch your palate. It'll only make it worse!". For this reason, I suggest you seek additional opinions before subjecting your palate to additional soft tissue surgeries.
It might interest you to know that the Stanford docs Powell, Riley, Li, Troell, etc. have written a paper on MMA for UPPP salvage. I suggest it to you.